Charlie Chaplin's films are always full of absurdity and whimsy. He expresses various problems in the real society in an unrealistic way.
The "Modern Times" released in 1936 is undoubtedly the most representative of his works. There are many funny and funny scenes in it. At the same time, it reflects the reality of American social life at that time, and it is full of criticism and irony.
Chaplin released his new work "Modern Times" 5 years after his previous work "City Lights". According to legend, during this period he lived in a big city and experienced the hardships of life at the bottom of the society, and then decided to express his thoughts in movies. .
From the point of view of the story, "Modern Times" is hardly a comedy, at most it can only be regarded as a tragicomedy.
If the audience can feel the tragic experience of the little characters in the film, they may not be able to laugh.
In the early 20th century, many European and American powers completed the second industrial revolution, and the productivity of human society was greatly improved. The world has changed, but human beings have not changed. The greedy nature drives them to want more, and under the system of capitalist private ownership, the selfish nature is infinitely magnified, so greed and selfishness are rampant in this "modern era".
Capitalists want more labor to bring more benefits, and workers want to spend less time to get more pay. The contradiction between the two sides is deadlocked until the emergence of the assembly line production method.
It is true that assembly line operations have greatly improved labor productivity, capitalists have gained more benefits, and workers' work is simpler and faster. As long as they can be distributed scientifically and reasonably, they can spend less time and get more pay.
But the capitalists are not satisfied. They want faster and more. The result of their dissatisfaction is often to destroy the original balance of things.
After Chaplin finished filming, he felt that this ending was "too painful", and only then had the "inspirational ending" we saw later.
Time has proved the greatness of Chaplin, who has explored and reflected on the conflict between corporate interests and individual human pursuit of happiness more than 80 years ago.
Such conflicts still exist today. Enterprises expect employees to give everything, but most employees just want a simple and stable happy life. How to reconcile the contradiction between the two has become a problem to be solved for modern human beings.
"Modern Times" did not provide a solution to the problem, but it reflected the difficulty of the workers. It is a pity that the film did not make the employers reflect. After the film was released that year, Chaplin encountered group counterattacks from international capital forces, and even distorted comments. So far, how many people still only know how to take care of their own interests and are insatiable?
Maybe people are like this. It's always easy to blame others. It's impossible to reflect on yourself.
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