How to evaluate the ending of Chaplin's film City Lights?

Here I quote the opinion of Zhihu netizen "Xue Fengzi" under the same question:

I think this is a matter of opinion. No ending will be better, and it can only be discussed as a possibility. Indeed, it would be more realistic without Joseph. However, the works of art themselves do not necessarily follow the actual situation completely (please refer to the psychoanalysis related to movies for a complete explanation).

As for why Chaplin chose such a happy ending, we can speculate according to relevant historical materials.

1, box office considerations

Chaplin became famous all over the world when he filmed "City Lights", and he himself became a veteran filmmaker with several roles. He has been in the film industry for many years, and Chaplin knows that a happy ending can get better benefits (no matter what time).

2. Pressure from the authorities

In Chaplin's films, the brilliance of human nature is always shining, and the government and authority are always ridiculed (such as the early works Immigration, Modern Times and the Great Dictator in the middle and late period). ), which promoted Chaplin from an excellent filmmaker to an immortal movie master, but Chaplin was under various pressures at that time. The biggest source comes from the pressure of censorship and the CIA boss-Edgar Hoover (he monitored Chaplin's life, and related sources can be found in Chaplin's autobiography, Edgar's curse and other books and the film Chaplin Biography (released in 1992)), which may also be an influencing factor (but throughout Chaplin's life, he still did not compromise).

3, the pressure of the sound film

At that time, there were already sound films in Hollywood, and many masters in the silent film era turned to sound or lost their jobs. Chaplin was the only one who persisted in making silent films and survived (mainly due to his abundant funds and unparalleled influence). Chaplin's brother (who is also his agent) urged him to make a sound film, but he still insisted on making a silent film, thinking that once Charlot (the name of the moustache in the play) spoke, it would be tantamount to sentencing the role to death. Chaplin's prediction was very accurate, and The Great Dictator became Charlot's swan song (and his swan song).

Back to the topic, when filming "Lights of the City" (193 1 released), Chaplin racked his brains for how to make blind girls think that Charlot was rich (later he closed the car door in a genius way to solve this problem), but in the era of audio movies, no one in the industry was optimistic about this silent film. Happy endings can make movies more popular and not disastrous. After all, most people still like happy endings. So there may be such considerations.

4. Chaplin's ending style

Through the study of all Chaplin's works, we will find that he is always hopeful at the end of the film (but Chaplin's thoughts have changed in the later period, and there are exceptions, such as the recognition of mother and son at the end of Finding the Fairy, the smile at the end of modern times, the shocking speech at the end of the great dictator and so on. Therefore, the ending of City Lights conforms to Chaplin's consistent style.

P.S. But I think the answer is not to make an evaluation, but to analyze "why Chaplin used this ending".

So I posted another netizen "Song Yun" to answer this question:

This is the best open ending I have ever seen in my shallow life.

The blind girl was beautiful and charming, and gave the wanderer a flower called love with a smile. The wanderer is blind and has nothing, but he is willing to give her his best things.

Because of blindness, she touched the sincere soul under the funny and dirty appearance of the tramp. Because of his blindness, he chose to give without reservation and asked for nothing in return.

It is because of the blindness of two people that there is an ending plot. Did they recognize each other? Will blind girls give homeless people money to leave like ordinary girls, or are they willing to pay them back?

See if you want to believe the characters in the film. Their characters naturally lead to the ending. This is the director's greatest respect for the audience: carefully create each role, make them complex and diverse, and leave the audience room for secondary creation.

In addition, I would like to add that the ending and the whole film are in line with the title. The light of the city may mean that in this huge world, tiny us are radiated by kindness and warm the cold material of human nature, regardless of class or wealth. Maybe it's only a moment, but it's always there.

A romantic silent film.