'Tis Spring!
I have to thank Russell for urging me to see Limelight a long time ago, as it has truly become one of my very favorite movies. Chaplin spent more than two years writing "the immortal love story of the gentle clown and the beautiful ballerina".
The old comedian, Calvero, befriends Terry, a young ballerina who has lost confidence in her talent and attempts suicide. Calvero discovers her unconscious but still alive, and calls a doctor. He agrees to look after her as she recovers. After Terry wakes up in Calvero's room and asks him why he didn't just let her die, he gives his response, which I love so much:
"What's your hurry? Are you in pain?
That's all that matters. The rest is fantasy.
Billions of years it's taken to evolve human consciousness
and you want to wipe it out.
Wipe out the miracle of all existence.
More important than anything in the whole universe!
What can the stars do?
Nothing... but sit on their axis!
And the sun,
shooting flames 280,000 miles high...
So what?!
Wasting all its natural resources!
Can the sun think? Is it conscious?
No, but you are!"
With Calvero's encouragement and friendship, Terry resumes her dancing career and enjoys great success. But at the same time, Calvero's career is dying. Soon after meeting Terry, Calvero has a vivid dream, in which he is once again a popular comedian, appearing with Terry on the stage. He gets laughs and applause from the appreciative audience with this little sonnet:
"My ode to a worm.
O worm, why do you turn into the earth from me?
'Tis Spring, O worm!
Lift up your head,
whichever end that be,
and smile at the sun!
Untwine your naked form and with your tail
fling high the dirt
in ecstasy!
'Tis Spring! 'Tis Spring! 'Tis Spring!"
Happy Spring, dear family and lovely friends. I think I'll have to watch Limelight again soon. Then, like the worm, I hope to smile at the sun.
The old comedian, Calvero, befriends Terry, a young ballerina who has lost confidence in her talent and attempts suicide. Calvero discovers her unconscious but still alive, and calls a doctor. He agrees to look after her as she recovers. After Terry wakes up in Calvero's room and asks him why he didn't just let her die, he gives his response, which I love so much:
"What's your hurry? Are you in pain?
That's all that matters. The rest is fantasy.
Billions of years it's taken to evolve human consciousness
and you want to wipe it out.
Wipe out the miracle of all existence.
More important than anything in the whole universe!
What can the stars do?
Nothing... but sit on their axis!
And the sun,
shooting flames 280,000 miles high...
So what?!
Wasting all its natural resources!
Can the sun think? Is it conscious?
No, but you are!"
With Calvero's encouragement and friendship, Terry resumes her dancing career and enjoys great success. But at the same time, Calvero's career is dying. Soon after meeting Terry, Calvero has a vivid dream, in which he is once again a popular comedian, appearing with Terry on the stage. He gets laughs and applause from the appreciative audience with this little sonnet:
"My ode to a worm.
O worm, why do you turn into the earth from me?
'Tis Spring, O worm!
Lift up your head,
whichever end that be,
and smile at the sun!
Untwine your naked form and with your tail
fling high the dirt
in ecstasy!
'Tis Spring! 'Tis Spring! 'Tis Spring!"
Happy Spring, dear family and lovely friends. I think I'll have to watch Limelight again soon. Then, like the worm, I hope to smile at the sun.