Modern Times [G]

When a factory worker suffers a nervous breakdown from his monotonous job on a conveyor belt, he is sent to a clinic. After being cured of his breakdown, he re-enters society to find it filled with men and women who cannot afford to eat because they are suffering from unemployment. As he attempts to find his way in the new world, he encounters riots, jail, drugs, and true love. 

Still wearing my hat, I have developed a love for the immortal genius that is Charlie Chaplin. After watching The Gold Rush, how could I not continue on a theme? Modern Times was a reflective film filled with comedy, action, drama, and romance. A winner from start to finish. 

When a factory worker suffers a nervous breakdown caused by his monotonous job on a conveyor belt, he is sent to a clinic. After being cured of his breakdown, he re-enters society to find it filled with men and women who cannot afford to eat because they are suffering from unemployment. As he attempts to make his way in this new world, he encounters riots, brawls, jail drugs, a series of failed job trials, and true love. 

The film caught me immediately in the first scene. First, you see a flock of sheep being herded, moving along together and without question or feeling. Then, you see a flock of humans emerging from a train station, moving along together and without question or feeling. This alone, is a powerful scene that sends out a strong message and raises awareness about what the “superiority” of humanity. I was hooked from then on. 

The film also makes a sharp point about technology and society’s dependence on it. Whilst the worker is experiencing the breakdown, he destroys the machine that produces whatever trade the factory provides. After that happens, the unemployment rate escalates dramatically. Go figure! I have always said that we should not be so dependent on technology and this film was made 54 years before I was born! Why have we not taken the hint?! 

Charlie Chaplin wrote, produced, directed, composed the music, and starred as the factory worker. He delivered a performance that was just as fluid, charming, and funny as the Lone Prospector in The Gold Rush, the only real difference is that, here, we get to hear him sing. A little trivia now, this film was made almost a decade after talking pictures had been established, but Chaplin felt that his character was more dependant on silent pantomime and slapstick comedy. He delivers a performance that is completely silent until he is hired as a singing waiter and sings a song in mock-Italian gibberish. 

Starring Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sandford, Chester Conklin, Hank Mann, Stanley Blystone, Al Earnest Garcia, Richard Alexander, Cecil Reynolds, Mira McKinney, Murdock MacQuarrie, Wilfred Lucas, Edward LeSaint, and Fred Malatesta, Modern Times was a classic Chaplin film filled with drama, important messages, romance, crime, music, and comedy. I loved it from start to finish!