Une idylle aux champs

Charlie Chaplin's satirical streak was not reserved solely for pompous authority figures with big bellies and wispy beards. He was not averse to turning his wit outwards and directing it at the very production style and process he himself was a part of. Sunnyside does not lampoon the movie industry – rather it makes a joke out of the Chaplin brand which the comic, eager to move on to more sophisticated feature films, was beginning to grow weary of.

Chaplin had practically invented the narrative slapstick comedy, but here he belittles the storytelling aspects that were now a comedy standard, curtailing descriptions of characters and places with "etc, etc, etc" and using a title card to bluntly announce the romantic subplot. Throughout the picture he makes use of his now most clichéd plot devices – the abused employee, the sophisticated love rival, the "it-was-all-a-dream" revelation – and, of course, numerous examples of his stock slapstick manoeuvre, the kick up the arse.

And yet, it appears Chaplin was incapable of deliberately making a bad picture. There are plenty of decent gags here, especially those at the beginning where Charlie thwarts his employer's attempts to get him out of bed. And even at the height of his sarcasm and hyperbole it seems Chaplin cannot help but work in gags and sub-gags which are genuinely funny. And for all its narrative laziness, Sunnyside is actually strong in its visual storytelling, beginning with the iris on the church spire to set the tone, then opening up the iris to reveal an exquisitely balanced shot of the village. And even the rushed ending is among Chaplin's sweetest in its delicate imagery.

And there's more; the all important statistic – Number of kicks up the arse: 24 (2 for, 22 against – can this be a record?)

This is another one of Chaplin's comedies. The Tramp is the butt of the joke by the start of the movie and turns the tables on the jokers by the end of the movie. There is a love interest that The Tramp falls in love with and by the end of the movie, wins over. Like many of Chaplin's movies, the use of extras and supporting actors add to the comedy. So often, Chaplin casted very large people or very small people. Usually we see a very over weight and tall man standing next to a very skinny and short man. For a silent film, Chaplin is good is using the eye candy to create laughter. Also, if you look closely, all of Chaplin's films have a political message. By the time Chaplin was producing full length features in the 1930's and 1940's, he was clearly making an attempt to throw large political messages at his audience. Although it is a tiny and is easy to miss if you are not looking, the message given by Chaplin is successful. The hotel owner in the movie has a framed sign on his bedroom wall that reads: Love thy Neighbor. Pointing the finger at the ignorant Christian, Chaplin showcases a man who reminds himself to love his fellow man, but manages to treat The Tramp like dirt. Very nice and to the point, Chaplin does it again.

"Sunnyside" and "A Day's Pleasure", the two films Chaplin made before his early masterpiece "The Kid", are two of his worst--probably since his days at Essanay. The most evident problem with "Sunnyside" is how uneven and poorly constructed it is. There's a lot going on in the film (maybe too much), and it seems more inspired than the lackluster "A Day's Pleasure", but it's a mess. Chaplin knew it, too; reportedly, he spent much time trying to make it into a coherent picture, and he contributed the film's failure to his personal problems at the time surrounding his failed marriage. In this light, the "etc., etc., etc." in the intertitles seems an expression of exasperation from the director.

In the film, the Tramp works overtime as a farmhand and employee of the adjoining hotel; his only solace being in his love for Edna Purviance's village belle. That sounds simple enough, but its construction and the fluency of the gags are off-kilter, as is the balance between slapstick and pathos. As a result, much of the hilarity and emotional involvement is forsaken.

Perhaps, "Sunnyside" was instructive for Chaplin. His subsequent films, especially "The Kid", would contain pathos and slapstick harmoniously. One may view the film as an experiment in this light. Furthermore, the dream sequence in "The Kid" is a more fully developed construction than that in "Sunnyside". The dancing nymphs interlude here in homage to ballet dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky might've worked better if placed in a better construction. Nevertheless, There are some funny moments here, as well as some hints at moments of poignancy. I especially liked the opening scenes where the Tramp won't get out of bed and brings a chicken and a cow into the kitchen to make breakfast. But, such moments are often lost within the ultimate hodgepodge that is "Sunnyside".

It's somewhat uneven, and you'd probably say that it's interesting rather than good, but "Sunnyside" is still worth seeing if you like Charlie Chaplin's short comedies. A couple of the sequences are very enjoyable, but others don't really work that well, and just take up time.

Rather than his usual tramp character, Charlie plays a put-upon farmhand and handyman who has some of the same characteristics, and the story combines some conventional slapstick with some more imaginative sequences. Some of the material is quite good, especially the sequence with Charlie and the horse doctor treating a patient. But not all of it comes off equally well, and it bogs down at times. It's only average among Chaplin's many short comedies, and not quite as good as most of the later ones, but it has enough to be worth seeing.

Charlie works on a farm from 4am to late at night. He gets his food on the run (milking a cow into his coffee, holding an chicken over the frying pan to get fried eggs). He loves the neighbor's daughter Edna but is disliked by her father.

All I know about this film comes from two things: one, watching it. And two, the work of legendary professor Wes Gehring. From watching it, I find that the film is good, with a few amusing bits, but far from Chaplin's best work and it is no surprise that this is not one of his championed films.

From Gehring, I learn that this film (and "A Day's Pleasure") were made while going through a nasty divorce (something Chaplin would do a few times). So if it is not his best work, it may be because he was far from in the best of moods.