The greatest movie ever!

An Exercise In Nonsense

n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Am a big fan of Charlie Chaplin, have been for over a decade now. Many films and shorts of his are very good to masterpiece, and like many others consider him a comedy genius and one of film's most important and influential directors. From his Essanay period after leaving Keystone, 'A Burlesque on Carmen' is not one of his very best but is one of his best early efforts and among the better short films of his. It shows a noticeable step up in quality though from his Keystone period, where he was still evolving and in the infancy of his long career, from 1914, The Essanay period is something of Chaplin's adolescence period where his style had been found and starting to settle. Something that can be seen in the more than worthwhile 'A Burlesque on Carmen'. The story is still flimsy and actually one of the most lightweight ones of the Essanay period, there are times where it struggles to sustain the short length, and could have had more variety.On the other hand, 'A Burlesque on Carmen' looks pretty good, not incredible but it was obvious that Chaplin was taking more time with his work and not churning out countless shorts in the same year of very variable success like he did with Keystone. Appreciate the importance of his Keystone period and there is some good stuff he did there, but the more mature and careful quality seen here and later on is obvious.While not one of his most hilarious or touching, 'A Burlesque on Carmen' is still very funny with some clever, entertaining and well-timed slapstick and is one of his first to have substance and pathos after 'The Bank', 'The Night in the Show' and 'The Tramp'. It moves quickly and there is no dullness in sight. The ending is great fun.Chaplin directs more than competently, if not quite cinematic genius standard yet. He also, as usual, gives an amusing and expressive performance and at clear ease with the physicality and substance of the role. The supporting cast acquit themselves well, particularly a charming Edna Purviance.In summary, very good and one of the best from Chaplin's Essanay period. 8/10 Bethany Cox

"A Burlesque on Carmen" is a silent short film from 1915, so this one is of course in black-and-white and it is now already over a century old. The version I watched ran for slightly over half an hour, but I see there's also version out there that run for over 40 minutes. And there is one that features Peter Sellers as narrator, which is a bit strange as this is a silent film like I wrote. is he reading the intertitles? I am not sure, but if you like him , then perhaps that's the version to choose for you. The title already gives away that this is another version of the famous Prosper Mérimée story about Carmen and she is of course played by Chaplin regular Edna Purviance. You will find more than just a few other names in here who were really prolific and successful back in the day, even if their most known works are not necessarily associated with Chaplin, such as Jamison, Turpin or White. From that perspective, it is a bit of an oddity for a Chaplin film, but also from the perspective that literature adaptations are not necessarily anything you'd expect Chaplin to star in, even if he clearly changed the material enough for this to work from a comedic perspective. Overall, I cannot say I enjoyed the watch too much and I give it a thumbs-down, even if it is without a doubt, maybe because of the unusual approach, one of Chaplin's most known short film works. Not recommended.

This film was recently reassembled by Blackhawk Films/Image Entertainment from fragments and adulterated versions released by the studio without Chaplin's permission. Because of this, the DVD tried very hard to assemble the best original version and I appreciate the effort.This is a pretty Chaplin short in that it has nicer sets and costumes and just looks nicer than the usual comedies of the day. And I am sure that to lovers of the story of Carmen it's an impressive film (though being a SILENT it must lose a lot considering Carmen in an opera!). However, despite the quality of the film, I just didn't think it was very funny. Nice to look at--Yes. Funny--not especially.

Chaplin liked Cecil B. DeMille's "Carmen"; this, I think, was his only effort devoted to parodying a sole film. I disliked DeMille's "Carmen"; neither the direction, nor narrative impressed me, and Geraldine Farrar was annoying. Edna Purviance is much easier to watch. Her caricature of Farrar's obnoxious narcissism was entertaining and rather satisfying--nearly making the experience of watching Farrar's performance worthwhile. And, Chaplin is funnier here than in any film he had done before. This, not "The Champion", "The Tramp", or "Police", is what I consider the jewel of his outturn at Essanay.This short follows the same plot of DeMille's "Carmen", nicely condensed, absent the melodrama. And, I'm discussing the 1915 "Burlesque on Carmen", not the bastardized version Essanay created the following year, after Chaplin had left the studio. That one includes a subplot involving Ben Turpin, which pads on two more reels to the formerly 2-reel short. This, the original, preferred version is a visually coherent, appropriately photographed short (other than some jump cuts). Chaplin took the style, or look--tinting, mise-en-scène, composition and such--right out of DeMille's film. As a result, this is one of Chaplin's better-looking films from his early work. If nothing else, DeMille made some pretty pictures.Chaplin did transform, or mature his comedy while at Essanay; although, of his Essanay films, only a few are very discernible from his Keystone shorts. You may witness a slight maturing in his other Essanay movies, but "Burlesque on Carmen" seems to introduce a radically more mature burlesque for Chaplin. And, I mean "burlesque" in two senses: first, this film is a burlesque in that it parodies another film, and, second, it may be that Chaplin learned to refine the broad, crude and frantic humor of his Keystone upbringing in the process of parodying that film. There's a clear focus here--in parodying DeMille's film, and thus we get a substantial refinement in Chaplin's style.There are some very funny moments here, too. The swordfight, which turns into a wrestling match, is great. Chaplin continually interrupts the photoplay by breaking down the fourth wall, including winking at the camera. Another of my favorite gags is when Chaplin, looking as close to the tramp as in any part of the film, stops at a saloon before continuing with the expected storyline.