Film Analysis: The Immigrant

No better is this endangerment seen than in The Italian starring George Beban in which he and his family complete with newborn child are forced to live in The Lower East Side which was one of the more well known gatherings of immigrants forced to live in tenements and slums there. These people lived in the exact conditions that Weiss was referring to in his statement about one’s health and soul. Beppo and Annette are living their lives in Italy which, while not luxurious, are still good. Annette works in a field gathering crops and Beppo works piloting a gondola down the river. They are poor yet they are satisfied with their lives and the idea of spending them together. The two find their way to America yet end up in New York’s Lower East

This film could especially be seen as a cautionary tale in many ways as well as a warning in addition. Immediately at the beginning of the film we see Charlie Chaplin leaning over the side of the ship he is traveling to the United States upon. We see people huddled on the deck and soon after Chaplin and another man are seen sitting on the deck somewhat visibly ill presumably due to the rolling of the ship on the ocean waves. We then see the immigrants on the ship trying to eat as the ship is rolling back and forth. The severity of the caution warranted by the film ranges from mild, to moderate, to severe. The caution that the film directs towards immigrants could be seem to start with a warning for anyone who may be seasick over the course of a long voyage to America. Next there is the warning about the lack of readily available food as evidenced by Charlie Chaplin fishing at the start of the film. He is presumably fishing because he is hungry and has been provided little else to eat. We later see you that even when the passengers are provided with the meal it is a meager bowl of soup that they are seemingly expected to share with their fellow passengers since not everybody is provided their individual bowl of soup. Overall conditions on the ship are presented as a leak and possibly without hope of reaching their destination. Is in this way that the film could be construed as a

It then shows what can happen after arriving in America if one does not take precautions ahead of time to safeguard ones money. We see on the ship that Edna 's character 's mother’s money is stolen and then replaced with money from chaplains characters gambling wins. Were it not for his generosity she and her mother would have been completely destitute upon arrival in America. Despite this fact Edna Purviance’s character appears to be without money when she shows up in the restaurant that Chaplin is also eating at. She has also lost her mother who became ill during the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. This is also another cautionary element to this movie and perhaps one of the most important. The loss of a parent is not something easily endured and again we have an instance where the film almost is asking the question of whether or not a person wants to risk losing their parents just for the chance at a life in America. The Immigrant makes light of these tragedies in a way by almost ignoring them and focusing primarily on the comedic elements of the films