Modern Times, Taylor Clifford

            I really do love watching movies.  However, most of my favorite movies are newer, more modern movies, but really I am down to watch anything.  As I began to watch Modern Times, I wasn’t really excited about it because I’m not too big on silent movies, however, as Charlie Chaplin steps into the film, he just simply has a presence on screen that brightens the mood and urges you to watch.  Within minutes of the movie starting I was hooked and wouldn’t stop watching.  I found myself laughing fairly hard which then got my roommate wondering what was so funny.  As he started watching he too began laughing.  As I noticed that he too was laughing, it was only then that I began to realize that Chaplin is a truly talented performer. 

            One of the most impressive things that Chaplin does is in the beginning of the movie, as he goes into the machine chute, and wiggles in-between the gears.  It was not only funny but also very impressive!!!  In some ways, performers from silent movies might be considered more talented than performers in modern movies simply because they were unable to use speech to gain the favor of the audience.  This is what I noticed that Chaplin was able to do; his movements and facial expressions just draw you in and really make you feel for him.

            After the movie, I was so impressed with his work that I looked up other works and found out that he not only stars, but is also director and writes the music for his films.  I would very much recommend Modern Times to anyone to watch, but now I also want to watch other works that Charlie Chaplin has done.  His basic slapstick humor is so easily relatable. The captions or little subtitles that come up were also very simple and yet displayed such a them of human feeling or and perseverance.   The movie also displays a time when the industrial times and the changing world were hard but the American dream is what kept a man and family going to fight the hard times even when faced with hardships.   Ideals such as perseverance, love, and determination are shown and constantly related in a humorous manor which made the hardships seem less likely to be a bad thing; such as when Chaplin is sent to jail not once but multiple times, which would normally be a very serious manner, but once it occurs again and again, it simply becomes a funny occurrence and you know that some good will come of it.  

            Overall, I am actually very glad I got to watch this and I am going to watch more of Charlie Chaplin’s movies simply because they are actually very enjoyable and made me laugh.   I cannot wait to watch the rest of the movies on our list for the year and I look forward to reading everyone else’s blogs.