Chaplin left behind an outstanding legacy and shaped the film industry as well as helped Hollywood spread its wings worldwide. He changed the perception of comedy and transformed comedy from being a side-kick to one of the most essential components in cinema.
Modern Times :
In the 1936 film “Modern Times”, Charlie Chaplin is able to engage the audience with humour to address the uncertainty and uncanniness of an industrialised future because it adds to the effect of satirising this fear- a technique used to make our problems more approachable.
“Modern Times” was a wonderful blend of comedy and social drama. The movie provided a look into the world of the great depression by people who lived it. Different elements of the movie portrayed the different difficulties of life in that era. Between bursts of comedy a grand picture of a society in turmoil is produced. Through work shortages, factory closings, labour strikes and political unrest Chaplin’s world shows us another side that people like to forget about the past.
One of the many ideas that are prevalent in this movie is the idea that each person is just a part of a larger whole, that although you could try to be individual, it was not in your best interests to do so. This idea is shown both in the beginning of the movie and when Chaplin was “forced” through social pressure to strike. The entire factory sequences showed how the average American worker was just treated as replaceable labour in the 1920’s and 1930’s the only concern of the boss was the ability of the workers to keep up with quotas. The mechanical device that fed Chaplin shows just how far some people would go to get that little extra profit at the expense of the workers well being.
American dream :
The American dream is also a prominent feature of the movie, Chaplin’s American Dream was a small shack with a puddle out back, saying that it is not how much you have that is what matters but what it means to you. The American dream has been prominent throughout American literature for hundreds of years and this movie is no exception. Through the use of comedy Chaplin portrays the American dream just as Algers does, something that is attainable with a little hard work. This idea was especially important at the time the movie was made.
American worker :
The last major theme is about the difficulty of life during those years, food and jobs were hard to come by, and as Chaplin shows us jail was preferable to the hectic and dangerous city streets. At the time of the great depression Americans had to fight for what little they had, and as the movie showed many people went hungry. However this movie glorifies the struggle of the poor rather than vilifying them for stealing food to survive. By glorifying the struggle the movie takes on yet another social issue: when the poor steal to eat it is not criminal, just survival.
Chaplin's Modern Times criticizes the growing industrial and mechanical nature of society through hyperbolic actions by the main character and varying reactions thereafter.
Despite any statements he wanted to make about class differences or working conditions, his movie ends with hope. Through the use of music to set the mood, the Tramp character decides that no matter how bad his life is, he can still be happy because of the love he has for the people around him.
Political and Social Commentary in “Modern Times” :
Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times, an entertaining piece at the surface, also serves as a political and social commentary criticising the flourishing industrialization, commercialization, and commoditization of big-business America, which has developed at the expense of the everyday citizen.
Mechanical Laughter: Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times” :
Charlie Chaplin brings lighthearted humour to a serious social commentary in Modern Times with his uncanny depiction of an automatic feeding mechanism and a robotic factory worker, reversing the viewers’ normal expectations of the animate and the inanimate.
Laughing at Self-Atomization :
Charlie Chaplin’s satirization of the atomization of American society in the early 2oth century is achieved through physical humour, which serves as a subtle yet effective portrayal of a common fear of the era.
The Great Dictator :
The Great Dictator is a tale of two worlds : the palace , where dictator Adenoid Hynkel rules , and the ghetto , where a Jewish barber struggles to make a living and survive . The comedic device of the film is the resem blance between the Dictator and the Barber , who is later mistaken for the Dictator. The theme of the sto ry, at its basic level , is the struggle between good and evil, reflected in the balance between the two worlds.
" The Great Dictator " cost $ 1,403,526 making it one of Chaplin's most expensive films . It was an enor mous gamble, as the film did not have the international distribution his silent films had enjoyed. The film was banned throughout occupied Europe, in parts of South America , and in the Irish Free State. Nevertheless, " The Great Dictator " became Chaplin's most profitable film up to that time earning $ 5 million dollars worldwide in its original release.
The greatest moment of Chaplin's satire on Hitler and the rise of dictators is the scene in which Hynkel performs a dance with a globe of the world. This scene , which stands with the very best set pieces of Chaplin's silent films , requires no words to convey its message . Accompanied by the delicate , dreamy prelude⁴ to Act I of Wagner's " Lohengrin " ( Hitler's favorite Wagnerian opera ) , Hynkel performs a graceful , seductive ballet with a balloon globe , a wonderful sym bol of his maniacal dream of possessing the world for his pleasure . Yet when he believes he has it within his grasp , the bubble literally bursts . This is Chaplin's symbolic comment on the futility of the dictator's as pirates and reflects his optimistic belief that dictators will never succeed .
Last Speech :
Probably the most famous sequence of " The Great Dictator " is the five - minute speech that concludes the film . Here Chaplin drops his comic mask and speaks directly to the world , conveying his view that people must rise up against dictators and unite in peace . The most enduring aspects of the final speech are its aspirational quality and tone and its underlying faith in humanity . Chaplin sketches a hopeful future in broad strokes and leaves the imple mentation of his vision to others, despite the fact that the more unsavory aspects of human nature may prevent mankind ever reaching his promised utopia. Although some may find Chaplin's message cliché, and even frustrating, one cannot help but be moved by the prescience of his words and the appeal of his powerful indictment of all who seek to take power unto themselves to the detriment of everyone else . The final speech of " The Great Dictator " remains rel evant and valuable in the twenty - first century and likely will remain so as long as conflict corrupts human interaction and despots endure .
"The Great Dictator," the film survives as cinema's supreme satire and one of Chaplin's most important and enduring works.
(Words 1203)
