Monsieur Verdoux

“Business is a ruthless business.” Charlie Chaplin is nearly as bold here as he was with The Great Dictator seven years earlier. He again takes an actual murderer as his model, but this time transforms him into a loving husband who pursues a good deed through his murderous affairs. He does not go so far as to advocate murder in certain circumstances (which the author of the story, Orson Welles, may possibly have done), but even that minor contradiction which he brings to this black-and-white theme is pleasing. Unsurprisingly, the greatest asset is Chaplin himself in his role of a lovable, amoral criminal. For the casualness with which he interspersed suggestive one-liners with good old slapstick, I guilty wished that he still had someone to murder. With its “murder with a smile” approach, Monsieur Verdoux has something in common with Arsenic and Old Lace, though the latter is tighter and brisker. Unlike Capra, however, Chaplin did not make a mere madcap comedy. Therefore, it is a pity that he did not give the same care to the role of the family (Verdoux’s main motivation), which he somehow forgets about, as he did to incorporating the social subtext. 80% (16/01/2020)

Charlie Chaplin once again proves how thin the line between comedy and drama is, in this case, a truly cruel drama. What is even more interesting is the fact that he created the character of a murderer and yet he himself remains irresistible throughout, especially in the ultimate conclusion. You simply believe the words he utters. There is no reason not to believe him, he is right. (06/10/2014)