QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM SAN SEBASTIAN

Forty-seven-year-old Carmen Chaplin – the daughter of Michael Chaplin and granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin – takes the reins of this barely cogent piece of filmmaking. Chaplin: The Spirit of the Tramp is a movie horribly torn between priorities. At times, it wants to be a biopic of the legendary British actor. Other times, it wants to provide insight into his surviving relatives. The whole thing is precariously held together by the clumsy assumption that Charlie Chaplin may have been a Gypsy. The mangled storytelling does not follow any order: chronological, topical or even alphabetical.

Remaining firmly behind the camera, Carmen puts her 78-year-old father at the forefront without ever explaining her connection to him. He casually introduces his granddaughter to audiences. I still have no idea whether the young woman is the director’s daughter or niece. In documentary-making, it is entirely acceptable that the director should choose not to appear in front of the camera, or to be acknowledged in the story at all. On this occasion, however, this is a very peculiar choice. That’s because Spirit of the Tramp sets out to conduct a detailed investigation of the documentarist’s family (including a detailed family tree going back several generations). It is therefore vital that viewers understand who’s the person in charge. By failing to acknowledge her role as the film director, Carmen denies her own existence within the family.

The intriguing assertion that Charlie Chaplin may have been a Gypsy is very poorly corroborated (and the controversial word, often deemed racist, is used and abused without hesitation). Firstly, it is claimed that the famous actor may have had one Gypsy great-grandparent, which would make Michael 1/16 Gypsy. That’s not an enormously significant percentage. Then the existence of a mysterious letter purporting that Chaplin was in fact born in the Gypsy community of Black Patch of Birmingham (instead of his widely recognised birthplace in London) is revealed. Yet the content of the letter is never dissected. Does that mean that Chaplin may have been adopted? Or does that mean that his parents may have visited Birmingham? Who knows. Finally, the film tries to make the bizarre assertion that Chaplin was a gypsy because his children were born in different nations (Victoria reveals that she was born in Switzerland, with a British passport), and because his corpse was once relocated. That’s right: Charlie Chaplin may have been a Gypsy because his mortal remains were moved. Huh??? It is this level of logical soundness that supports the narrative.

Johnny Depp, Emir Kusturica and Fernando Trueba engage in brief conversation with Michael, and yet make no significant contribution. Did Charlie Chaplin influence these peoples? Do they too claim to have gypsy genes? Again, I have no idea. The name choices remain completely random to me.

And it isn’t just the argumentation and storytelling that are hardly coherent. Spirit of the Tramp is an aesthetic mess. Archive footage is blended with monochromatic talking heads of Carmen’s Geraldine and Victoria, while Michael appears in relaxed interactions in various environments. Allegorical images of an epidemic that affected children’s hair (I still cannot work out the disease and its symptoms) are suddenly inserted into the story. These are sophisticated images using elaborate settings and CGI, yet with an incomprehensible meaning and a banal outcome.

Another concern is that Spirit of the Tramp brushes over Charlie Chaplin’s abusive and authoritarian side. Michael does say that he wishes Charlie Chaplin had been a better father, but then he immediately offset his own claim by stating that he too should have been a better son. And he briefly mentions his father’s explosive outbursts. But that’s about it. Those not familiar with the dark side of one of the biggest film actors and directors in history will leave the cinema convinced that Chaplin’s stormy family history was extremely rosy. A little more balance would have made a big difference.

Given the quality of the images and the calibre of the talking heads, it is a safe inference that this movie boasted a sizeable budget. Carmen is a very well-connected and established actress from a very prominent artistic lineage. Her debut feature suggests that this silver spooner has little to no directorial talent. Access – to people, footage and funds – remain the only valuable assets that this movie possesses.

Chaplin: Spirit of the Tramp just premiered in the 72nd edition of the 72nd San Sebastian International Film Festival.