"Modern Times" is one of Chaplin's masterpieces. The film is based on the background of the Great Depression in the 1920s in the United States. It describes the story of worker Charlie working in a factory, going mad, being mistaken for the leader of the strike movement and being imprisoned, as well as being with an orphan girl. life crises are closely linked. Through exaggerated performances, the film poignantly satirizes the exploitation and oppression of workers by the bourgeoisie, reflects on the rapid development of industrial civilization, and at the same time expresses sympathy and praise for the working people. This article mainly interprets the film's expression techniques, character building, and director style. - A montage of lunatics, rebels, or lambs to the slaughter, with sheep swarming into the fence, and then the scene transforms into workers swarming into the factory. It alludes to the workers being slaughtered like lambs powerless to resist. The interior scene of the factory in the feature film gives people a sense of depression: the bearings are rotating at an exaggerated speed, the components on the assembly line pass through each worker quickly, and everyone is nervous and afraid of making mistakes. Smoking in the bathroom between work must be monitored by the president. In this environment, it is also reasonable for the protagonist to later develop a mental illness. On the other hand, the president, representing the "capitalist" class, spends his days doing puzzles and monitoring the workers, and racking his brains to improve the efficiency of the workers to make more profits. Class antagonisms and contradictions are self-evident. - The scene in the film where Charlie breaks down and goes mad in the factory can be said to be a kind of hysterical defiance. Rather than saying that his madness was due to his profession, it was better to say that it was a hilarious and cursing resistance. Chaplin entertained everyone with his clumsy and comical performances, but also cheered the hearts of the people, making the audience feel the power of resistance. Although he was eventually subdued by the police, it also sounded the alarm for the bourgeoisie. -Heaven and Hell Charlie was misunderstood as a labor movement leader after being discharged from the hospital and was imprisoned. Dedicated to the crime, when the warden released him early, he asked to stay for a few more days. This idea sounds absurd and illogical, but in those chaotic times, outside is not as good as in prison. Outside, Charlie meets and helps the orphaned girl whose father was shot during a strike. The two develop a relationship and often fantasize about their own paradise. But things backfired, and various external obstacles caused the two to start living in exile again. What is heaven? What is hell? Prison, a place full of darkness and evil, has become a paradise in the eyes of the homeless; and the so-called "modern age" has all kinds of bright new things, such as neat department stores, fleets of cars, huge gears and other industrial times The product of the man is regarded as the devil in hell. The long shot of Charlie being caught in the giant gears in the film means that the machine is like the devil, swallowing the laborer. The modern city is full of man-eating machines and blood-sucking capitalists. Isn't this hell? The guardian of silent films and the promoter of humanitarianism, Chaplin had an almost persistent adherence to silent films. Although sound films became popular in the 1930s, he still insisted on shooting silent films. Like all silent film directors, he knows no borders. Film critic Roger Albert said: "Sound films are like the legendary Tower of Babel, which builds high walls between countries." And Chaplin's films can endure for a long time and have always maintained their artistic vitality. Compared with the master of the silent comedy of his generation, Buster Keaton, his films are too sensational and have a single plot. Although the two films are centered on their respective roles, they have completely different paths. Chaplin often played low-level laid-off workers or vagabonds, outsiders to society, rigidly repetitive and hobbled and crooked. The laugh of the film comes from the actor's clown-like antics. And Buster Keaton will play a different role in each film, usually a stable job, the pursuit of acceptance and affirmation, the pursuit of status, the pursuit of love and actively adapt to the social environment. It can be seen that Chaplin had sympathy for the marginalized in society, compassion for the people at the bottom, and hatred for the exploiting classes. His films have no dialogue, no obscure philosophical thoughts, no complicated and fancy film language, only the purest and simplest plot and performance, but this cannot hide the humanitarian brilliance of his films. Film critic Roger Albert said: "Sound films are like the legendary Tower of Babel, which builds high walls between countries." And Chaplin's films can endure for a long time and have always maintained their artistic vitality. Compared with the master of the silent comedy of his generation, Buster Keaton, his films are too sensational and have a single plot. Although the two films are centered on their respective roles, they have completely different paths. Chaplin often played low-level laid-off workers or vagabonds, outsiders to society, rigidly repetitive and hobbled and crooked. The laugh of the film comes from the actor's clown-like antics. And Buster Keaton will play a different role in each film, usually a stable job, the pursuit of acceptance and affirmation, the pursuit of status, the pursuit of love and actively adapt to the social environment. It can be seen that Chaplin had sympathy for the marginalized in society, compassion for the people at the bottom, and hatred for the exploiting classes. His films have no dialogue, no obscure philosophical thoughts, no complicated and fancy film language, only the purest and simplest plot and performance, but this cannot hide the humanitarian brilliance of his films. Film critic Roger Albert said: "Sound films are like the legendary Tower of Babel, which builds high walls between countries." And Chaplin's films can endure for a long time and have always maintained their artistic vitality. Compared with the master of the silent comedy of his generation, Buster Keaton, his films are too sensational and have a single plot. Although the two films are centered on their respective roles, they have completely different paths. Chaplin often played low-level laid-off workers or vagabonds, outsiders to society, rigidly repetitive and hobbled and crooked. The laugh of the film comes from the actor's clown-like antics. And Buster Keaton will play a different role in each film, usually a stable job, the pursuit of acceptance and affirmation, the pursuit of status, the pursuit of love and actively adapt to the social environment. It can be seen that Chaplin had sympathy for the marginalized in society, compassion for the people at the bottom, and hatred for the exploiting classes. His films have no dialogue, no obscure philosophical thoughts, no complicated and fancy film language, only the purest and simplest plot and performance, but this cannot hide the humanitarian brilliance of his films.
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