Posted on September 2, 2015 by Nicolas Rapold in The New York Times The New York Times, By Nicolas Rapold It’s a curious fact that one of the most popular characters in motion-picture history is homeless: Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp. Although Chaplin’s creation took on a life of his own, he set the tone for the complex interplay between art and authenticity in the depiction of homelessness. In the decades since, the portrayals have been a decidedly mixed bag (or bindle). A frequent subject in the years after the Depression, hoboes were depicted with sympathy in films like “Wild Boys of the Road,” about homeless children. After World War II in Italy, the Neorealists shot on location in urban ruins where displaced characters struggled to make ends meet, as inVittorio De Sica’s Academy Award winner, “Shoeshine” (showing at Film Forum this month).
