The Charlie Chaplin Experience

After some delays the Charlie Chaplin museum finally opened in April 2016. it is based in his family house and grounds in Vevey; a forty minute drive from Dijla, in the canton du Vaud. Its where Chaplin lived for the latter years of his life after suffering the crazy persecutions of the McCarthy era in America. He carried on regardless, composing music for films, working on his memoirs and making films at studios in the UK.

The museum is centred around his house which is full of the furnishings, artefacts and family photographs. There are many images of him with personalities from the many decades of his career, Albert Einstein, Sofia Lauren and Gandhi to name just a few. I wanted to take pictures in the various rooms where he lived and worked but it felt wrong. I wanted to savour the simple humour and joy this man pervaded around the world. He worked with the simplest of ideas but through his his clowning techniques together with his extremely varied life experience, he forged a universal language that was enjoyed in so many countries. I only took one picture of his house in its surroundings. A large house for a large family but not ostentatious.

There is also a visitors centre which has the usual hall of merchandise one has come to expect. However there is also a cinema which you are encouraged to visit to watch ten minutes worth of snippets from his various films. After which the screen roles up to reveal various sets and vignettes from his movies. Here, you can explore and take endless selfies of yourself next to wax statues of Charlie in all his guises. I must admit I was quite moved and humbled by the insight into his life story, though thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.