Is the ending the best in film history? - City Lights (1931) Discussion

[–] Ghostiejo 16 years ago

Yeh, I would say this was the best ending in movie history. The first time I watched it I ammediately went back to watch it over again and there's not many films I can say that about.

Chaplin always said that if you want to know anything about him, just watch his films. Based on this film alone, I assume he was just the most amazing person. Even if he did have flaws, he was a genius with great understanding of human nature.

reply

[–] regie-4 16 years ago

Its the best ending of all movies i know.

its the best to me because in the final scene its the silent gaps without any music, without any comment, which i adore most. It reveals the actors expression so intense. The long views when the two finally meet are priceless. This is art and so emotional.

The moment before she asks "You?" is when my heart is out of control.

"Yes i can see now" what genius Chaplin was.

reply

[–] sean_pak215 16 years ago

I'm surprised nobody in the 80 comments has mentioned a silent movie that came out the same year as City Lights which contains an equally poignant ending: F.W. Murnau's Tabu.

reply

[–] SeisCinemaSeis 16 years ago

I dunno if this is the best ending in film history. There are another movies with wonderful endings as well. But I have no doubt about one thing: the ending in City Lights is the most memorable scene from this beautiful movie.

Whenever I think on Chaplin films, there are always some scenes that immediately comes to my mind: Charlie playing with the potatoes and forks in The Gold Rush; Charlie going through all those gears and wheels in Modern Times; Chaplin satirizing Hitler's thirst for power playing with a balloon (world) in The Great Dictator; Calvero's death in Limelight; Charlie and Jackie Coogan escaping from police in The Kid; and of course the ending of City Lights.

Who could forget those moments? IMHO Chaplin is the greatest icon of cinema ever.

reply

[–] Ghostiejo 16 years ago

Can't argue with that Oracle88.

reply

[–] 4thlake 16 years ago

No matter how many times I see this film, my heart breaks for Charlie in the final scene. Another good ending that hasn't been mentioned is All About Eve. I love the scene with the woman holding Eve's award and all the mirrors. My other favorites are: Citizen Kane, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, It's A Wonderful Life, and The Usual Suspects.

reply

[–] HulotderSpeiler 16 years ago

Yes

black and white movies were better

reply

[–] jdarrel28 16 years ago

I just came on imdb to write a post about how great the ending is to this film and it seems that i don't have to!!!! One of the greatest endings in film history.

reply

[–] Miura88 16 years ago

It's definitely one of the best endings ever, along with:

The Godfather Part Two
Aguirre: The Wrath Of God
The 400 Blows
Au Hasard Balthazar
Nostalghia
The Conversation
The Searchers
Nights Of Cabiria
Some Like It Hot
The World Of Apu
Ran

J Dilla Changed My Life. Rest In Beats.

reply

[–] vinidici 16 years ago

Other great film finales:

Cinema Paridiso
Planet of the Apes (1968)
The Graduate
The Usual Suspects
Angel Heart
The Silence of the Lambs
Gone With the Wind
Casablanca
Will Penny
Ride the High Country
A Tale of Two Cities (1935; except for the Biblical quote, pasted on the screen, from St Paul--and I'm no atheist, I only objected to it because it wasn't in the Dickens novel)
The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)

Secret Message, HERE!-->CONGRATULATIONS!!! You've discovered the Secret Message!

reply

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] pjbrubak 16 years ago

I have never sobbed so powerfully at a film!

You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you might find you get what you need.

reply

[–] SN51431 16 years ago

I agree. It is one of the best endings in film history. This film is so great, it is emotionally devastating.

reply

[–] Respect_Norton 15 years ago

I'm throwing Usual Suspects, Forrest Gump and The Elephant Man as better endings but I did love the City Lights ending.

reply

[–] braco 15 years ago

I regard City Lights as one of the best movies ever made. The ending is one of the greatest endings. One reason is because it is not an ending in a real sense but a beginning of something new that is open for fantasy. "What should happen after the story has ended?" is the question.

reply

[–] iloveyoumoretoday 15 years ago

One of the bests! How could you not smile?

Get down & boogie!
Jean Harlow is the original blonde bombshell.

reply

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Kammurabi 15 years ago

It is a rare moment of perfection in film. You can tell when one happens because it takes on an unreal, perhaps magical quality.
99% of filmmakers never achieve this type of moment even once...and they do try. Chaplin did it at least twice.
The other (in my opinion) is not an ending but the scene in the Great Dictator where Chaplin (as the Hitler character) performs his intimate dance with the globe.
Watch that and then try to claim that scene is not transcendent. Obviously not for the same reasons as the ending of City Lights...but it's perfect.

Sorry I've gone off the plot of the thread here. I do think City Lights has the most perfect ending of any movie.

.

reply

[–] tnoel13-5 15 years ago

I would definately consider city lights to have one of the all time greatest endings ever in movie history.

reply

[–] armoreska 15 years ago

how is it perfect if there's a continuity error?

www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=23949572 - vote history (OVER 9000 titles)

reply

[–] vinidici 14 years ago

Inquires armoreska: "How is it perfect if there's a continuity error?

What "continuity error?" We are discussing the ENDING of the movie, not the entire preceding part of it. Where do you find "continuity error" in the ending, I wonder?

reply

[–] armoreska 14 years ago

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0021749/goofs

"Continuity: During the film's final scene, The Tramp is seen holding the flower to his face when seen from the front; when seen from the rear, he is holding it to his lapel."

how is it preceding? i thought it was the very last scene...

www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=23949572 - vote history (OVER 9000 titles)

reply

[–] vinidici 14 years ago

OK, I "get you" now--you were referring to the onscreen gaffes; but methinks we'd all be hard pressed to find ANY movie without them.

The sentiment behind the title of this thread, though, is appreciation for artistic and dramatic perfection and, in that sense, the final scenes of "City Lights," most people will discover, are among the most "perfect" in all filmdom.

reply

[–] armoreska 14 years ago

of course, memorable, dramatic, I know
but not the best

goofs are present in at least 99% of feature-length films yes, but usually they go unnoticed

www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=23949572 - vote history (OVER 9000 titles)

reply

[–] megArnold 13 years ago

It's perfect because it makes you care *boink* about any uninteresting goof some bean-counters have found out...

--
Hmmm?

reply

[–] Kammurabi 14 years ago

That isn't so much a goof as it is a misunderstanding by the viewer of the concept of cuts in movies.

.

reply

[–] a_kubrickfan 14 years ago

If you need a single reason to watch this film, it's the ending. I can't believe how I shed tears over it.

reply

[–] westcoastloc 14 years ago

I would say yes. I first saw the Gold Rush in 1991 when I was 6 on AMC and I immediately had to see all of Chaplin's movies. I slowly collected all the Chaplin Centennial VHS's. When I watched the ending to City Lights it really was one of the most touching and perfect endings to a movie and I was only maybe 7 when I saw it. City Lights for the first time. Really amazing stuff. I think the Circus's ending is a close second for memorable endings.

BTW is City Lights setting USA ? Does anyone know what city its supposed to be. I got confused by the nice car that Charlie drives the steering wheel is on the right side but I guess thats just cause its a british car or something?

reply