Charley Chaplin Movie Review
The movie is set in the 1930s during the Great Depression era. The film's main concerns are unemployment, poverty, and hunger. Chaplin alternates jobs from an assembly-line factory worker, a shipyard worker, a department store night watchman, an overstressed singing waiter, or an occupant in jail. He is constantly hassled by the 'Big Brother' factory boss, a minister, a sheriff, a shipyard foreman, a department store manager, etc. The film opens with an overhead shot of a flock of sheep shoved in their sheep pen and then the sheep dissolve into a similar overhead shot of industrial workers pushing out of a subway station on their way to work in a factory. Charlie Chaplin's character The Tramp is a factory worker whose job it is to tighten bolts on an endless series of machine parts. Under the strain of the job, he finally goes crazy, slowly engulfed by the assembly line. He is hustled off in a car by a white-coated assistant, to be treated in a mental hospital for a nervous breakdown. Out on the streets, a young orphaned girl is hungry and wants to help feed her family. Her father is
Chaplin is saying that industrialism is something bad because people become numbers instead of individuals. With industrialism, men have to work non-stop to make the products for their bosses. Industrialism gives an opportunity for men to have jobs, but it also expects them to work just as well as machines. But there is also a good side to industrialism that Chaplin is trying to show as well. Industrialism provides men with jobs. Without it, everyone will be poor and have no homes. The connection between industrialism and the "American Dream" is to become rich. The American dream is having a home, a car, a wife and children. To live this you would need a job to afford a house and car. You have to work non-stop and keep in mind the reward that comes at the end of the day which is the money. Having industrialism can give the opportunity of man men getting a job so they can earn money. Modern Times was a great silent film. It provided many examples of the Great Depression and how many people suffered from it. The positives in having a silent film is to make us think more and not just watch but also pay attention to
Some common words found in the essay are:
Charlie Chaplin's, Film Review, Modern Times, American Dream, Charlie Chaplin, silent film, pay attention, modern times, social service, overhead shot, workers portrayed, american dream, department store, factory worker, industrialism opportunity,
Approximate Word count = 756
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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