I did not learn anything new about him.... But it was nice to see all those old clips. Especially the home movies of him and Oona and kids in his later years. My fav movie of his is Monsieur Verdoux.... The 'tramp' was interesting but repetitive. Chaplin wanted to become 'famous' and he did. And wealthy. It's too bad his love for way too young girls led him and his career astray....

An insightful documentary which manages to largely follow the man's entire life whilst trying, largely successfully, to understand and articulate his motivations and aching doubts. He remains highly regarded and it is hard to understand now how incredibly popular and loved he was. He was though not a particularly nice man and seemed to find affection for others difficult, until possibly in his old age. The nonsensical communist paranoia that plagued the US finally got him and he had to live his later years in Switzerland which often seems here so very sad, particularly given the somewhat hypocritical Oscar he received in his last few years.

I rather liked Pearl Mackie's rather affectionate narration, which made a nice change from the usual Walter Cronkite type austerity.

With the type of attention to detail and editing that Chaplin used throughout his career, this documentary could have been wonderful. But it's not. It's overly long, dwells too much on some things while ignoring others, and gives us an arms-length view. Shame. Better editing could make it wonderful.