Review of Modern Times (1936) by Jiana W — 07 Jun 2011
The movie started off kind of weird, like it wasn't sure if it wanted to be a talkie or a silent film. Apparently this was released about a decade into the "talkie" era and Chaplin plays around with this, using actual voices on four separate occasions but mainly relying on his facial expressions, physical humour, and of course, screen titles to tell us what's going on in the story.
Because of this, this isn't the best Chaplin film since it has quite an identity crisis, but it's still funny and smart and the comedic moments are woven in so that they don't take much away from the plot itself.
I find Charlie Chaplin cute. Maybe it's the fact that he's obviously so small, especially in comparison to a majority of the other men in the movie. Maybe it's his terrific comedic timing.
Maybe it's all of the above. Paulette Goddard is adorable in this movie as "The Gamine". I liked how their portrayal of a destitute woman was a patchy dress with jagged fringes, bare feet, and dirt-smudged cheeks, haha.
This review of Modern Times (1936) was written by Jiana W on 07 Jun 2011.
Modern Times has generally received very positive reviews.
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