Modern Times

Modern Times is a 1936 American comedy film written and directed by Charlie Chaplin in which his iconic Little Tramp character struggles to survive in the modern, industrialized world.

Plot
This comedic masterpiece finds the iconic Little Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) employed at a state-of-the-art factory where the inescapable machinery completely overwhelms him, and where various mishaps keep getting him sent to prison. In between his various jail stints, he meets and befriends an orphan girl (Paulette Goddard). Both together and apart, they try to contend with the difficulties of modern life, with the Tramp working as a waiter and eventually a performer.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) There were several aspects which delayed the film's creation and release, including constantly having to refine the Tramp to be liberal, sentimental and a friend to the underclass as the filmmaking technique matured; taking on more responsibilities; hijinks and practical jokes from the mid-to-late 1910s often getting dated in the 1920s; the Tramp now being obstinate and unemployable rather than an iconoclast or someone who chose to be carefree; and having to adjust to his advancing age. However, despite all of the aforementioned issues and setbacks, the film still managed to turn out as a masterpiece.
 * 2) It's Chaplin's final full-length silent film, performance as the lovable Tramp, and truly funny film, but Chaplin really made both his performance and the overall film count.
 * 3) The film cleverly pokes fun at then-modern technology social issues in a way that doesn't feel forced. There's dark humor in assembly lines and various other time-saving devices, although for most of the film Chaplin went back to material he was comfortable with from some of his previous films, often incorporating bits he admired from other performers. This film along with Sullivan's Travels made five years later proves that social satire can be addressed in a comedy film.
 * 4) Since "talkies" were around when the film was made, the film had a mix of Tramp's classic silent expressions, and voices and sounds from machines. The Tramp, the gamin and most of the supporting cast continued to stay in the silent age, while only the antagonistic figures (technocrats, industrial magnates) are given dialogue, and even then, they can only be heard through microphones and on records. When the Tramp finally does speak near the end of the film voice, he's heard singing an imaginary, nonsense song of gibberish.
 * 5) As mentioned above, Charlie Chaplin did an incredible performance as The Tramp as usual, with his scenes being alternated during various points, including an assembly-line factory worker.
 * 6) There's also Paulette Goddard who played the film heroine, the gamin or Ellen Peterson, and also does a great performance. A considerable portion of the story was her character given to her, and she's shown as an orphan who has to steal food for her family, and became fond of the Tramp and his kindness. She's arguably the most mature and independent of all of his post-keystone heroines.
 * 7) The film had a great original music score created by Chaplin himself which really enhances the film.
 * 8) A number of wonderfully inventive and memorable routines and scenes that proclaim the frustrating struggle by proletarian man against the dehumanizing effects of the machine in the Industrial Age (at the time of Henry Ford's assembly line), and various social institutions.
 * 9) *The film's full of impressive, and often audacious moments: At one point, a red construction flag drops off the back of a passing truck. The Tramp picks it up hoping to return it, only to find himself leading a parade of strikers down the street. The camera pulls back on a crane to show riot police arriving to break up the demonstration. In a single take, Chaplin brings viewers from the harmless slapstick of an earlier age, to the brutality of the present.
 * 10) We finally get to hear the Tramp's voice in this film! Sure it may be in a gibberish song with foreign-sounding lyrics, but still, we actually get to hear it.

Trivia
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 * 1) When asked for an official statement on Daft Punk's breakup, former member Thomas Bangalter released a handwritten note quoting their song "Touch" alongside a clip of this film featuring a scene where one character tells another to smile before they both walk away into the distance.