Modern Times

Charlie Chaplin

This 1936 classic written, music-directed, produced, directed by and featuring Charlie Chaplin is a satire on the evils of industrialisation and the struggle of the common man to survive. It was reported that Charlie Chaplin was inspired after a conversation he had with Mahatma Gandhi in which Gandhi complained about “machinery with only consideration of profit”. Putting so many emotions in a silent movie was remarkable and Chaplin’s character being force-fed by a machine, running around tightening screws in the assembly line and the factory owner watching through a close circuit camera have turned out to be a reality in these modern times. This movie is often hailed as one of Chaplin’s greatest achievements, and there are no two opinions about it.