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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best analysis of Chaplin's art in book form!, July 19, 2009
This review is from: The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin: Artistry in Motion (Hardcover)
There have been dozens of books written about filmdom's first megastar, Charlie Chaplin, from Chaplin's own MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY to Walter Kerr's landmark study of silent film comedy, THE SILENT CLOWNS, to David Robinson's definitive biography, CHAPLIN: HIS LIFE AND ART, to Jeffrey Vance's beautiful coffee table book, CHAPLIN: GENIUS OF THE CINEMA. While these books and many others have been excellent, they tend to fall into two basic categories--biographies or film studies. Dan Kamin's new book, THE COMEDY OF CHARLIE CHAPLIN: ARTISTRY IN MOTION, is something different altogether. It is a examination of Chaplin's art, focusing on what made his films so compelling to audiences of the time and what continues to make his work captivating to new generations experiencing his silent films in the modern era. This is not merely a film study. It is a study of Chaplin's performances and the way he used the motions of his body to create timeless comedy. The author is uniquely qualified to analyze and break down Chaplin's body movements, as Dan Kamin is a professional comedian and mime who developed the physical comedy sequences for the films CHAPLIN (1992) and BENNY AND JUNE (1993) and who trained both Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp for their roles.
Through Mr. Kamin's in-depth analysis of Chaplin's body movements, THE COMEDY OF CHARLIE CHAPLIN: ARTISTRY IN MOTION had an effect on me that no other book on Chaplin and his films has produced--it made me look at the comedian's work in a new way. Just as the outtakes presented in the Kevin Brownlow and David Gill's breakthrough documentary UNKNOWN CHAPLIN provided a new understanding into the way Chaplin improvised and directed his films, Mr. Kamin's book provides new insight into the comedian's compelling performances. Of course, the book is much more than a detailed examination of Chaplin's movements. It also features coverage of the comedian's theatrical work and how he utilized and adapted his stage training when entering the movies, a detailed examination of the comedian's gags (including a breakdown of eight specific categories of Chaplin's signature transformation gags in which he treats one thing as another), a look at the comedian's evolving character and the changing cast of characters that surrounded him as his films became more mature, an extensive analysis of how Chaplin dealt with the problem of adapting his comedy to the new medium of sound films, and a brief overview of the challenges Mr. Kamin encountered in trying to train Robert Downey Jr. to move like the great comedian for the film CHAPLIN. Taken as a whole, I found THE COMEDY OF CHARLIE CHAPLIN to be the best examination of Charlie Chaplin's art in book form.
While I can find no criticism to level against Mr. Kamin's masterful analysis of Chaplin's art, I have one small gripe when it comes to the book itself. The publisher has chosen to only publish the title in a library-bound edition, which has been priced for the library market. While the book is solidly bound to last beyond a single lifetime and the laminated hardback cover is resistant to spills that would damage books made of lesser materials, the $65 price tag may discourage many readers from picking up this beautiful, insightful book. However, since this is a reference that film lovers will want to revisit again and again, the care that went into producing the book is appropriate. I hope that fans of Charlie Chaplin will overlook the hefty cost, because those that make the investment will find their money well spent.
Lovers of film comedy should consider Dan Kamin's book an essential read. It receives my highest recommendation.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitive!, January 23, 2010
This review is from: The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin: Artistry in Motion (Hardcover)
Dan Kamin's book is a hidden treasure! I was amazed, as a regular purchaser of Chaplin books and DVD's from Amazon,that Mr. Kamin's book was not once 'recommended' to me. I came across it by way of a website devoted to Edna Purviance. It is, by far, the most complete and beautifully written book on the comedy of Charlie Chaplin (not the story of his personal life, but the actual work). Mr. Kamin writes in a very accessible, easy style which was a joy to read. If you want to understand the origins and recurring themes of Charlie Chaplin's body of work, this book is for you. This is a superb companion to the more traditional biographies by David Robinson and Jeffrey Vance and, of course, Charlie Chaplin's own autobiography. Highly, highly recommended! Thank you Mr. Kamin.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An essential Chaplin book, June 27, 2009
This review is from: The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin: Artistry in Motion (Hardcover)
There has been book after book on Charles Chaplin as a filmmaker, as a major cultural figure of the twentieth century, even as a political figure - but no book before Dan Kamin's 'The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin: Artistry in Motion' has chosen as its principle subject the very aspect which accounted for Chaplin's great success - the fact that he was the greatest pantomimist ever captured on film.
Dan Kamin is a mime who travels the world brilliantly following in the tradition out of which Chaplin's comedy arose - as a search of Kamin's name on Youtube will attest. Kamin coached Robert Downey Jr. through his uncanny portrayal of Chaplin in the 1992 biopic as well as supervised Johnny Depp in his slapstick routines in 'Benny and Joon'.
In 'The Comedy of Charlie Chaplin' Kamin hones in on what made Chaplin's mime so singular and mesmerizing; he notes Chaplin's virtuoso mastery of physical movement and the manner in which he utilized his great skills to evoke deeply-felt human emotions. He is able to identify the techniques of Chaplin's art in way that only another mime can.
In addition to delineating Chaplin's art of movement, Kamin shows how Chaplin the the filmmaker framed that art to its best advantage - casting light on the manner by which Chaplin highlighted his pantomime routines even in his sound films with the skilfull use of technology - a fact which has been largely unexplored by other Chaplin authors. Kamin displays how Chaplin's skills as a filmmaker perfectly matched and accentuated his skills as a mime, and his acute sensitivity to both, and the manner in which they united to create Chaplin's timeless art, makes this book an essential addition to the library of anyone serious about Chaplin.
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