Modern Times (1936)

Modern Times (1936) is Charlie Chaplin’s comic and bittersweet take on life in the machine age. You follow the Tramp — Chaplin’s iconic, gentle underdog — as he struggles to survive monotonous factory work, a disastrous experiment with an “automatic feeding” machine, and a string of mishaps that land him in an asylum and later in jail after being mistaken for a political agitator. He meets a spirited young homeless woman (the Gamin) and together they bumble through odd jobs, narrow escapes, and small acts of tenderness as they try to carve out a life amid unemployment and modernizing society. Watching the film is a sensory blend of visual invention and quiet emotion: inventive physical comedy (the factory assembly-line routines, the feeding-machine gag), carefully choreographed pratfalls, and richly expressive pantomime that still lands decades later. Though essentially a silent film, Chaplin uses sound effects, musical cues, and occasional vocal bits to heighten the comedy and pathos. Key scenes alternate between uproarious slapstick and intimate, humane moments — stealing bread, hiding from the police, and the mutual care that grows between the Tramp and the Gamin. You’ll leave with a mixture of laughter and melancholy. The movie satirizes industrial dehumanization and the pressures of modern life while celebrating resilience, compassion, and stubborn optimism. Visually inventive, emotionally resonant, and historically notable as Chaplin’s last “silent” picture, Modern Times offers timeless physical comedy alongside a quietly moving social critique — ultimately ending on a hopeful, bittersweet note that invites the viewer to both smile and reflect.

Actors: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman

Director: Charles Chaplin

Runtime: 87 min

Genres: Comedy, Drama, Family

8.6 /10 96 /100 8.5 /10 8.9 /10