Cruel, Cruel Love (1914) – Chaplin pulls a real Vasaloppet through my feelings

So, I watched Cruel, Cruel Love again last night, and mate, that’s just under 15 minutes of pure Chaplin shenanigans. You’d think, “1900s slapstick, how funny can it even be at this point?” But I was wheezing like after a meal of too much smalahove (don’t ask). Charlie Chaplin, who basically is the Kristina Lugn of physical comedy – tragic, odd, and way funnier than you’d expect, totally steals the show as Lord Helpus. The dude moves like a confused stork trying to cross Götgatan in rush hour.

The film’s directed by George Nichols, that unsung hero who feels kind of like the Nils Poppe of early slapstick directors – never gets enough credit, but you’d bloody notice if he wasn’t there. Produced by Mack Sennett too, the king of keystone chaos himself. Sennett had knack for getting all these madcap moments onto film, like he was herding cats with a whistle.

What stuck out this time is how absurd jealousy still hasn’t changed, eh? Chaplin’s lord thinks his heart’s been broken and downs “poison” like a teenager at Valborg. Suddenly everyone’s running about in total panic, and I couldn’t help but think of my cousin Hasse’s wedding in Katrineholm, 1999 – total chaos, a goose on the dancefloor, and my uncle accidentally proposing to someone’s grandma in the confusion. Same energy. Love makes everyone a bit soft in the head.

The movie’s silly, sure, and sometimes the old-timey acting makes me cringe like when my dad tries to rap. But it’s sorta magic to see where comedy began, the raw potato before it became pommes frites. Just, you know, go in ready for something that’s got all the subtlety of a bus på Slussen. But there’s beauty in that too.

Would I recommend it? Only if you want to watch history run face-first into a pond, and isn’t that pretty much all of us some days?

watch the full movie on Mavshack Movies on YouTube

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