MODERN TIMES is a love letter from Charlie Chaplin to an era that he defined. It is his final silent film, and even so, it is sprinkled with dialogue here and there. It sends up the industry that was taking over the home that Chaplin was such a master of, not only satirizing talking films, but industrial progression in general.
Chaplin is an unnamed factory worker, fired from his job for not being able to keep up with the machines that can do the same job in less time, with less faults. He is sent to a mental hospital, then kicked on to the steet, and quickly thrown into prison. The film is basically a series of events consisting of change dominating a circumstance, and that change being totally blind to what was there before it.
I was pleasantly surprised by MODERN TIMES. I understand that it is a classic film, but I didn't think a film that contained almost no dialogue could affect me. The over-the-top physical comedy of The Tramp, along with the beautiful, innocent performance by Paulette Goddard as a young woman who becomes orphaned and is taken in by Chaplin's character, bring both laughs and true sadness to the screen. It hums along quickly for 85 minutes, subtley but unquestionably serving as great satire while also telling a simple story of an innocent romance.
A
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