The Digest
‘Charlot’ in Cambodia: New novel explores Charlie Chaplin’s midlife crisis in French Indochina
‘Charlot’ in Cambodia: New novel explores Charlie Chaplin’s midlife crisis in French Indochina
Hello readers,
The year is 1936, and Charlie Chaplin is in the midst of a midlife crisis. Having stubbornly fought for years against the currents of Hollywood, the 47 year-old comedian is taking an extended vacation in Asia after releasing yet another silent film in an era of talking cinema. After releasing Modern Times earlier in the year, he had pledged to never make another film. Upon returning from his travels, he reneged on this pledge and began to voice his political views through a series of talking political satires, a decision that would ultimately see him banished from Hollywood under accusations of communist sympathies. Ian Masters’ debut novel Charlot interrogates this critical Indochinese interim in the great comedian’s career, in between the death of ‘the Tramp’ and the beginning of a new politically aware, speaking Chaplin.
Join the Globe’s Beatrice Siviero as she interviews Masters, exploring the novel and the motivations of the man behind it. An excerpt from Charlot can be found here.