Discuss critically the ways in which the machine is treated in ‘Modern Times’. In 500 words your critique of ‘Modern Times’ must describe and comment upon specific scenes in the film. In the film ‘Modern Times’ written and directed by Charlie Chaplin, he attempts to keep up with the ever changing and improving modern, industrial society. The machine in the film is a new invention and concept, one that is unfamiliar to the workers. Characters struggle to keep up with this mechanism, as it does not cater for human needs when Chaplin fails to keep up with its fast pace.
The machine is treated as if it is of more worth than human life. The bodies of workers are dragged through machinery chains and moving belts in all of Chaplin’s factory jobs. Chaplin is driven to a state of a mental breakdown where he cannot stop tightening anything that resemble two bolts to the stage where he is now the machine himself. Following this, he finds it hard to keep a steady job and is found to be constantly in trouble with authority.
Chaplin and his other co-workers in the factory become stuck in the machine age. In the film, the machine is owned by the upper class, operating for their benefit. In the film it is seen that only the police and people of high authority own cars, and in total, the machine is detrimental for the poorer people of society. Chaplin’s job causes instability in his life, as he found life easier in jail where he did not have to deal with mechanisation that has appeared to have thrown the industrialised world into disarray.
The Essay on Film Analysis Done For Charlie Chaplin's Film, "Modern Times"
... released, the lack of “talking” in Modern Times (1936) seems to suggest Chaplin was against technology. This was not true. ... bothered by the dehumanization of it’s workers). As soon as the machine malfunctions, however, Chaplin’s facial expressions suggest ... Silence era, and the death of Chaplin as an actor in silent film. Chaplin uses cinematography to exaggerate specific ...
The representation of machines in ‘Modern Times’ is a reflection of pre-world war 2 when there was an increase in industrial production for the war effort. This can be attributed as to why the machinery in the film is treated with such importance and high value, seen in one of Chaplin’s many jobs, when his boss is churned through the engines, motors and pulleys of a machine quite aggressively. Chaplin in ‘Modern Times’ is an interpretation of his objection against progressing industry and the changing world.
The film was based on the times (1936) when machines brought prestige in society to anyone that adopted them. When Chaplin is fed by the feeding machine he is treated as a testing ‘guinea pig’, his self-worth is diminished as entrepreneurs watch on. The device makes clear that it is superior as humans are unable to control its actions. This scene shows that machines are treated as a greater force, as even Chaplin is forced to eat metal bolts – part of the machine itself.
Conclusively, in ‘Modern Times’, as machines are praised and admired they are put above the worth of any man. They are seen as the way of the future and as a new concept they have the ability to both equalise society, in that nobody truly knows how to control them, and also separate classes, in that the richer society are the only people able to own the machines, and poorer classes work on the machines, sometimes under dangerous conditions. Total: 495 words
