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There are quite a few things about Charlie Chaplin's “Modern Times” that make it difficult to love. His faith in communism drives the entire work, and some viewers may find the morals underlying the film very hard to swallow. Being a free-loading Brit, this wasn't a major issue for me, but there were several gags that either fell flat or felt deeply uncomfortable. When you see large metal bolts get dropped on to a plate, it becomes painfully obvious where they are going to end up. When Chaplin's character – the Tramp, naturally – suffers a nervous breakdown and flees his workplace, armed with two large spanners, and sees a woman in a dress with large buttons in exactly the wrong place, then it's clear we're into the always amusing trope of threatened sexual violence. Being stuck in a police wagon and accidentally – three times – sitting on the lap of the buxom black lady stuck in there with him wasn't funny either, especially when she was the only non-white face in the whole thing. Times, thankfully, have changed.
But not all the changes have been for the better, at least as far as Hollywood is concerned. Quite apart from the socialism, and the elements of capitalism-gone-mad, there are parts of this film that would be simply unfilmable today. There's cocaine use in prison which gets played for laughs, a socialist central character who isn't immediately unlikeable, and the constant background idea that the United States isn't the greatest country in the world, and could in fact be much better. In a comedy. It would be completely impossible to get a film with even one of those elements funded today, unless it was a cartoon which also made fun of Canadians.
A couple of other things are jarring, most of which are down to the passing of time. It's in black and white, for one thing, and the pace of the film is slow. In addition, some of the things Chaplin clearly thinks are appallingly busy and awful now look nice and quiet. Seeing workers piling into a factory to clock in on time may have shocked in the 1930s, but considering the road they're crossing only has two cars on it, at least they would have been able to breathe clearly. The Tramp's relationship to his female sidekick, The Gamine – played by Paulette Goddard, who was (probably) his wife at the time - is also quite disturbing, not least given Chaplin's own taste for young women.
Some of the choices are meant to be jarring, though. This was the last mainstream silent film, and Chaplin definitely made it in order to stick two fingers up at that mainstream who were rushing towards the modernity that “talkies” represented. There are talking elements in it, but they manage to be unconventional in a genre which hadn't existed long enough to have many conventions. Chaplin's Tramp even sings – although it's total gibberish, and the meaning of the song is conveyed by Chaplin's movements and gestures, which appears to be the point.
And none of these issues, problems or quibbles take away from the basic greatness of this film. Yes, it's 75 years old, and it's slapstick, but it's absolutely fantastic to watch. Chaplin's physical presence and genius for mime drives the film, and he's matched scene for scene by Goddard. I actually had a tear in my eye once or twice, and given that you don't actually hear them saying anything, that's quite a feat of acting. And in places it's hysterically funny, especially in the fantasy scene in the Perfect House.
I'm not saying it's perfect, and I'm not saying it's instantly my favourite film of all time. But I am saying that it's definitely worth watching, even if you have to skip past the unpleasant bits. Because it's good, it's funny, it's poignant, and it still has important things to say about the relationship between the worker and the employee, especially when – as they are currently – times are hard.
But not all the changes have been for the better, at least as far as Hollywood is concerned. Quite apart from the socialism, and the elements of capitalism-gone-mad, there are parts of this film that would be simply unfilmable today. There's cocaine use in prison which gets played for laughs, a socialist central character who isn't immediately unlikeable, and the constant background idea that the United States isn't the greatest country in the world, and could in fact be much better. In a comedy. It would be completely impossible to get a film with even one of those elements funded today, unless it was a cartoon which also made fun of Canadians.
A couple of other things are jarring, most of which are down to the passing of time. It's in black and white, for one thing, and the pace of the film is slow. In addition, some of the things Chaplin clearly thinks are appallingly busy and awful now look nice and quiet. Seeing workers piling into a factory to clock in on time may have shocked in the 1930s, but considering the road they're crossing only has two cars on it, at least they would have been able to breathe clearly. The Tramp's relationship to his female sidekick, The Gamine – played by Paulette Goddard, who was (probably) his wife at the time - is also quite disturbing, not least given Chaplin's own taste for young women.
Some of the choices are meant to be jarring, though. This was the last mainstream silent film, and Chaplin definitely made it in order to stick two fingers up at that mainstream who were rushing towards the modernity that “talkies” represented. There are talking elements in it, but they manage to be unconventional in a genre which hadn't existed long enough to have many conventions. Chaplin's Tramp even sings – although it's total gibberish, and the meaning of the song is conveyed by Chaplin's movements and gestures, which appears to be the point.
And none of these issues, problems or quibbles take away from the basic greatness of this film. Yes, it's 75 years old, and it's slapstick, but it's absolutely fantastic to watch. Chaplin's physical presence and genius for mime drives the film, and he's matched scene for scene by Goddard. I actually had a tear in my eye once or twice, and given that you don't actually hear them saying anything, that's quite a feat of acting. And in places it's hysterically funny, especially in the fantasy scene in the Perfect House.
I'm not saying it's perfect, and I'm not saying it's instantly my favourite film of all time. But I am saying that it's definitely worth watching, even if you have to skip past the unpleasant bits. Because it's good, it's funny, it's poignant, and it still has important things to say about the relationship between the worker and the employee, especially when – as they are currently – times are hard.
