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This is a ruthless world, and one must be ruthless to cope with it.

Charlie Chaplin, Monsieur Verdoux, 1947

Literature

The story behind the card

Henri Verdoux, the title character of Charlie Chaplin's dark comedy Monsieur Verdoux (1947), is a sacked bank clerk who now marries rich widows and kills them for their money. One rainy night he takes in a young woman just out of prison, meaning to poison her, then spares her. As she leaves, he sums up his outlook with this line. She disagrees: the world is clumsy and sad, but kindness can make it lovely. Years later they meet again; she has grown rich and he has lost his family.

Türkçe oku
Bu dünya acımasız; onunla baş etmek için insanın da acımasız olması gerekir.
Charlie Chaplin, Mösyö Verdoux, 1947

Charlie Chaplin'in kara komedisi Mösyö Verdoux'nun (1947) kahramanı Henri Verdoux, işini kaybetmiş bir banka memurudur; artık zengin dul kadınlarla evlenip paraları için onları öldürmektedir. Yağmurlu bir gece, hapisten yeni çıkmış genç bir kadını evine alır; onu zehirlemeye niyetlidir, ama sonunda kıyamaz. Kadın giderken Verdoux hayat görüşünü bu cümleyle özetler. Kadın ona katılmaz: Dünya hatalarla dolu, hüzünlü bir yerdir, ama iyilik onu güzelleştirebilir. Yıllar sonra yeniden karşılaştıklarında kadın zengin olmuştur, Verdoux ise ailesini kaybetmiştir.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Monsieur Verdoux
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