In the tape La vie c’est gaie, c’est triste, Boltanski is filmed in a Charlie Chaplin outfit (bowler hat, black suit, etc.). He is standing on a stage, or so it appears, before an open curtain, with a microphone in front of him. It has something of stand-up comedy. He is laughing loudly until the laughing turns to crying, In the tape La vie c’est gaie, c’est triste, Boltanski is filmed in a Charlie Chaplin outfit (bowler hat, black suit, etc.). He is standing on a stage, or so it appears, before an open curtain, with a microphone in front of him. It has something of stand-up comedy. He is laughing loudly until the laughing turns to crying, and vice versa; laughing and crying alternate with each other in quick succession. The viewer is scarcely given a …hance to share in the emotion, something which would normally happen if this were cinema. Where nowadays slapstick is already regarded as a genre dominated by exaggeration, Boltanski takes it one step further in expression and emotion.

Read more...