Analytical review of 'Modern times'

Analytical review of

'MODERN TIMES'

Introduction-

“Literature is the mirror of society.”

                      The above statement contains a great deal of truth as the word ‘Mirror’ is used as a metaphor for the reflection of Society in Literature. The literature presents inverted images of surroundings framed in a particular genre which almost seems similar to the real world. This can be clearly observed in a 1939 film called “Modern Times”.

 Charlie Chaplin

                                The social satire and slapstick comedy ‘Modern Times’ is written and directed by Charlie Chaplin. Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin popularly known as Charlie Chaplin was a British comedian, writer, and composer who is well remembered for his Tramp character. Despite the numerous hardships and struggles woven throughout his life, Chaplin made the world laugh without uttering a word.  He has significantly nurtured the form of silent film and transformed it into one of the prominent art forms. He is highly valued as the greatest comic artist and one of the most important figures in the history of cinema. Vachel Lindsay, the populist poet had described the greatness of Charlie by saying

“The cinema IS Chaplin”.

Modern Times

                       From the literary point of view, the film ‘Modern Times’ has minimum dialogues but the direction and screen depict a lot.  The film encompasses under the genre of Modern Literature as it is experimentation with art. The tone is comic and tells a harsh fate and conditions to survive in an industrialized world. It is a classic comedy as it continues to capture attention and attract the audience till date. Chaplin portrays a factory worker, generous and thoughtful tramp and as the plot progresses he meets Gamin, an orphaned and poor girl and they encounter the hardships of surviving in joblessness, hunger for food and basic necessities.

- Social Background

                 The film is a social satire on the mechanical life of people in an industrialized era of twentieth-century American society. The film is set during the years of the Great Depression depicting the economic and social problems in the times of industrialization and perhaps it is rightly titled as ‘Modern Times’ where modernity is presented as disorganization and havoc. Throughout the film, Chaplin has presented his mastery through his observations in transforming the anxieties, tremendous unemployment and in particular the devastating effects of the Great Depression into comedy.

  -Analytical review

                 The film opens with a dictum (in some ways being bombastic) to depict the reality through satire. 

                          Chaplin can rightly be called a true critic as he might seem to alert his audience right from the beginning of the film with this paradoxical statement. Particularly when the ‘story of industry’ is compared with the ‘pursuit of happiness’ with a symbol of a clock in the background, the instrument clock is a machine which symbolizes time that how machines are used to dominate human beings. And the time shows six o’clock is the time of leaving the factory/ industry.


              As the film progress, one metaphor is used to depict the ‘Sheeple Mentality’ in modern days presenting the frame of a flock of sheep and comparing it with the people of modern times.

flock of sheep

                   On one hand, the flock of sheep requires one path leader so that the whole flock can follow similarly the humans are emerging from the subway. This is the novel idea of Chaplin says not to follow the crowd.

humans of the modern world

                                 Humans are the slaves of industries, machines, technology, and the modern system. The president of the Electro Steel Corp. is monitoring workers is a highly dangerous practice as a form of control and human liberty is extracted. Industrialists control over workers indirectly represents the power of the capitalist where the minority exercise control over the majority. Even the powder room has cameras; the workers’ liberty is ceased.  

the president monitoring through a camera 

               Furthermore, the work and the rapidity of the machine which is readjusted time and again because of the shortage of man force or for not maintaining the rapidity with the machine or perhaps to create the surreal and comic effect wherein the tramp goes inside the machine. He experiences the nervous breakdown which again represents the mundane work which also lacks creativity.

                  Furthermore, the flash forward technique is used where the scene of dream plays a major part to fill their empty stomach. They dream to satisfy their hunger for food. As none of them have work, the situation of unemployment, joblessness impacts here with a very high outcome, both dreams of fresh farm food in the modern industrial world. The theme of a hunger for food can be observed throughout the film like Gamin’s stealing of a loaf, banana as well as the burglar’s theft of food at the departmental store.

Gamin tempted to steal a loaf 

                               The philosophical idea of victimization of innocent beings are shown in a comical way that how time and again the tramp is taken away to jail by the cops and later he finds comfort in the jail itself. He wants to stay a little more in jail as he could easily satisfy his basic necessities as it was the years of the Great Depression and to survive was very hard for him. The situations of Imprisonment have a deep connection with the struggling years of Independence in India. Many freedom fighters were forcefully sent to the prison.

                   Chaplin was ahead of his time, he showed Gamin as the breadwinner of the family while the tramp was in jail, and she preferred to work for both of them.  She is given a decent job of dancing in a restaurant and even she gets the tramp a nicer job. This is perhaps the masterstroke of Chaplin’s idea. But this steady job soon ends when the cops arrests Gamin. Chaplin truly has created a replica of the modern days.

                   The film ends in a symbolic way, it ends with dusk symbolizing hope with the following words.

                 Gamin and the tramp both are seen walking in the long road into unreachable mountains to pursue a better life. The open road represents a wide horizon of hopeful optimism.

Conclusion

Hence, it can be metaphorically said that Charlie Chaplin's 'Modern Times' is a mirror of years of the Great Depression. The film becomes more meaningful now than it was in the twentieth as it reflects the historical fact of the age as well as relates to a phrase which says 'The text is historical, and history is textual'. The film can be called the most enduring art of Charlie Chaplin in a rational way.

"The plot of the film actually captured the zeitgeist of the 1850s to 1950s."

Citations-

• Ebert, Roger. “Modern Times Movie Review & Film Summary (1972): Roger Ebert.” RogerEbert.com, 25 Jan. 1972, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/modern-times-1972

• Green, Abel. “Modern Times.” Variety, 12 Feb. 1936, variety.com/1936/film/reviews/modern-times-2-1200411268/.

• Malcolm, Derek. “Chaplin: Modern Times.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 14 July 1936, www.theguardian.com/film/1936/jul/14/derekmalcolmscenturyoffilm.

• “Modern Times (Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 June 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Times_(film).

• Parkinson, David. “Modern Times.” Empire, Bauer Media, 1 Jan. 2000, www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/modern-times-review/.

Thank you.