Modern Times

Modern Times
(1936)
Director: Charles Chaplin (IMDB)

I've never seen a Charlie Chaplin film, and to be honest, before watching The Artist a few weeks ago, I had only seen two other silent films before (Metropolis and Nosferatu.) This is considered by many to be the best movie Chaplin made, and It was also his last silent film. It was essentially a middle finger to the changing times and the fact that he could have made this a "talkie" but decided not to was the first form of punk. Not really, but I would like to believe it was, so fuck you Sex Pistols.

Chaplin is a down and out factory worker trying to make it in the rapidly changing industrialized world of the 1930's. The depression is in full swing and many people still don't have work. He quickly loses his job and finds himself in and out of trouble while trying to keep his shit together. He falls for a young orphan, who he saves from the police, after she's caught stealing bread (kinda like that Temple of the Dog song.) They work odd jobs for a bit, buy a shitty run down shack, and end up walking off together into the sunset.

This movie is very interesting and I enjoyed it a lot, especially the physical comedy of Chaplin. You take for granted how easy it is to make someone laugh by telling a joke, but to do so with no words is an art and one that Chaplin mastered. There's a lot of interesting set pieces, some that stood out were: Chaplin lost inside the machine, Chaplin roller skating blind near the edge of a ledge, and the inside of their shack. The score was really cool and the use of sound effects were well timed. I would recommend if you haven't seen a silent film, start here. If you have, see this anyways.