Chaplin (1992 Richard Attenborough)

In memory of Anne Coates, who died on the 8th. I can't claim to have spotted any of her stand out signature moments, but on watching it very closely, it seems just to move perfectly, the shot lengths and sizes all working together in harmony. The invisible art at work, invisibly.

We hadn't see it since 5 April 2012, when we were clearly doing a William Boyd blitz (other films seen this month include his version of Scoop, Armadillo, Tune in Tomorrow, Dutch Girls, and Stars and Bars - in fact we must have met him soon after).

My review then: 'Based on his biography and autobiography and Diana Hawkins' story, and written by William Boyd and William Goldman and Bryan Forbes. Barry's score isn't suitable, somehow, ('fights with dialogue', I had written even earlier) and although it's very well acted, doesn't quite hang together, oddly. Difficult to finance, because of Downey. Carolco made it on the back of Terminator 2! It seems Forbes' original script wasn't used, but the WGA ruled he was credited as it provides 'framework'.'

Hmm. I thought it did 'hang together' and was thoroughly engaging, and whilst it wasn't part of Boyd's vision to use the framing device of old Chaplin discussing the book with his publisher (this was written by Goldman), I think this works quite well, for example in the two versions of how Chaplin gave the Tramp his look.

Robert Downey Jr. is sensational (won BAFTA, Oscar nominated - lost to Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman), not just for the way he emulates Chaplin's performances, but also for his mastery of two British accents, and the subtle way he plays both the ageing and the old Chaplins. But the whole cast is terrific: Anthony Hopkins, Dan Aykroyd, Geraldine Chaplin (inspired casting - also brilliant), Paul Rhys (brother), John Thaw, Kevin Kline (a good Fairbanks), Marisa Tomei, Penelope Ann Miller, Milla Jovovich and Moira Kelly, who intriguingly plays both Charlie's first love Hetty and his final wife Oona. Of Hetty, I love the romantic scene played between he and her at a tea stand, where the vendor just watches both of them, but says nothing.

I think Barry's score is one of his best later ones and there might be one or two scenes where it might be best not to run the music under the scene but that's all.

Sven Nykvist's photography is beautifully melancholy (Jeff Cronenweth is an assistant) and Stuart Craig has many fabulous sets to design.

Q sometimes wonders why these reviews take so long. Well today, I had to find and check my own previous reviews, read Will's thoughts from 'Bamboo', research Goldman's contribution (which led me to the discovery of a sequel to 'Adventures in the Screen Trade' which had to be bought), which also involved reading the New York Times review, checked the Anne Coates obit, composed a short email to Will and found and cropped (a) the screen shots (b) that great photo of Will and Robert:

The 1972 Oscar compilation was made by Peter Bogdanovich and Richard Patterson.