Modern Times (1936)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1936
	Director: Charles Chaplin
	Actors: Charles Chaplin (The Kid, The Great Dictator), Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 09.12.2017, in-flight entertainment system 10" screen
Synopsis: After a nervous breakdown, a tramp turned assembly-line worker (Chaplin) ends up in jail, is released, and will live various adventures in his quest to find a place in the modern world.
Review: I hadn't tried to watch this classic from Chaplin in maybe 20 years. Last time it was playing on television and I must have found it too boring because I remembered only the first scenes at the factory, I probably gave up after that. Like all silent movies it requires to be in a certain mood to watch. This time I was in that mood, and even though I didn't see it in the best conditions, I appreciated the image and sound quality, this first thanks to a recent restoration, the second thanks to a new recording by a philharmonic orchestra of Chaplin's original score. So none of those high-pitched soundtrack that usually accompany such movies, but a score well-fitting even if very present, as was in those times. I find that rejuvenation of the soundtrack really gives a new life to old movie like Häxan, The Fall of the House of Usher or Metropolis. Most of the movie is silent, but some effects are added to the soundtrack to mimic what we see on screen. Most of the dialogs take the shape of intertitles (written panels), but a few interventions use recorded voices, mostly for the company bosses at the beginning. A sign that silent movies were coming to an end in 1936, and as Chaplin doesn't speak in this one it would seem he was scared of the transition that could make him a thing of the past like many other actors of the silent era. In reality, like in The Great Dictator he just keeps his voice for the last scene for more effect, this time a singing act that culminates the show displayed by the clown Chaplin throughout the movie thanks to his many talents: writer/composer/director/actor and pantomime of course (the high image quality allowed me to focus attention on his face and gimmicks, and appreciate in passing the beauty of co-star Paulette Goddard...), but also dancer, contortionist, gifted roller skater... That last scene hit me like a punch, as it made me glimpse a little fraction of the influence Chaplin had on modern times. One cannot say that he finally speaks in that scene, as he sings in fact in a made-up tongue furiously similar to the one used by the Minions of the Despicable Me franchise. Even more striking is his dance that includes the preludes to... Michael Jackson's Moonwalk! The performance delivered in that last scene is just magic. Note that I also recognized the influence on the King of Pop via the recurring theme of the movie that was used for the song Smile on the album History in 1990. The lyrics "Smile, what's the use of crying?" echo perfectly the last shot of Modern Times. And for the first time I got a better understanding of the meaning of the movie, beyond the basics of unemployment and factory working in the post-depression era, I noticed that the main character was truly happy and recognized by society not when getting a job as part of a bigger machine or trying to get a house like others do, but when performing his art with passion.
Rating: 7 /10