Interview: Chaplin, eugene's father

Geneva, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Exclusive interview with Eugene's father Chaplin

Xinhua News Agency reporter Ling Xin

Fat pants, a round top hat, a mustache, figure-eight feet, and a crutch that never leaves your hand are the classic images of comedy guru Charlie Chaplin on the movie screen. He plays a small person who is either clumsy or helpless, does not say a word, but makes people laugh with tears. As a performer, Chaplin is undoubtedly great; chaplin, the "plain face" of life, we know very little.

The 16th marks the 127th anniversary of Chaplin's birth. On the same day, the reporter interviewed The late comedy master's son Eugene Chaplin at Chaplin's former residence on the shores of Lake Lermon in Switzerland, and listened to him sketch a silhouette of Chaplin's life for us.

"In my eyes he was first and foremost a father, no different from any other father. At night when the family was having dinner together, he would ask us what was going on at school, if we had any problems, etc.," Eugene recalled.

Eugene was the child of Chaplin and his last wife, Ona. In 1952, Chaplin was politically persecuted by McCarthyists in the United States, and the family left the United States to settle in Switzerland, and Eugene was the first child the family had after settling in Switzerland.

"He especially stressed that we must have a good education, perhaps because he himself was lacking in education, and he realized the importance of education even more," Eugene said, "And he has a lot of requirements for our speech and behavior, such as sitting at dinner, such as having to ask parents' consent before getting up and leaving their seats." ”

When it comes to the difference between Chaplin on and off stage, Eugene feels that most of his life, his father is a serious man, he is very planned for his life, and he will work in the study for a long time every day. "But when a friend or his brother comes to see him, they're funny together because they know each other very well and often play together."

In addition to this, Chaplin occasionally showed his humorous side in life. Eugene gave an example, "Sometimes watching TV and seeing a performance that he doesn't feel satisfied with, he gets angry, gets up and imitates the people on TV, and says to everyone, 'That's what he looks like!'" That's ridiculous! ’”

In a letter to an American friend in September 1953, Chaplin seemed satisfied with life after moving to Switzerland. "Our 36-acre estate overlooks Vevey, a charming old town where both Rousseau and Courbet lived and worked," he wrote. There is an indescribable beauty of the nearby lake and the mountains in the distance, and the children explore it every day, they run around in the woods and orchards, climb up and down among the cherry trees, peach trees, plum trees, apple trees, and when the weather is good we have lunch in the orchard, you should really try the corn we grow ourselves..."

Eugene felt that the greatest benefit for Chaplin in Switzerland was that he could walk around without being disturbed, and he would even go to the newsstand himself to buy newspapers. "In the United States, as soon as he went out, there would be a large crowd of people coming around. The Swiss were so shy that even if they recognized who he was, they would only look at him from a distance and would not come up to greet him. ”

Chaplin liked to make friends, including the famous physicist Albert Einstein and other people from all walks of life were his guests, Premier Zhou Enlai also invited Chaplin and his family to visit at his Villa Huashan in Geneva in 1954, and the photo of the two at that time has been treasured in the Chaplin House in Switzerland.

Chaplin visited China after filming Modern Times in 1936. Eugene told reporters that Chaplin liked China very much. He said in a slightly playful tone: "One of the things that my father always hangs on his lips is that after the United States invented penicillin at that time, he did his best to keep the production method as a secret, and in the end China developed penicillin itself." ”

As an artist born in Britain, famous in the United States, and later reclusive in Switzerland, Chaplin has always called himself a "citizen of the world" throughout his life. (End)