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Modern Times
1936 87 min United States of America G 6+
★8.7
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Director: Charles Chaplin
Trailers
EN
EN
Description
A bumbling tramp desires to build a home with a young woman, yet is thwarted time and time again by his lack of experience and habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time..
Budget:
$1.5M
US Gross:
$163,577
Worldwide:
$1.8M
Starring
Charles Chaplin
Actor
Paulette Goddard
Actor
Henry Bergman
Actor
Awards
6 wins & 1 nomination total
Key opinion
Modern Times is widely revered as a masterwork of social satire that uses the Tramp's comedic resilience to critique the dehumanizing effects of industrialization and the Great Depression. While most viewers praise its emotional depth and enduring relevance, a minority of critics argue that its style feels dated and its structure repetitive compared to the work of Chaplin's contemporaries.
| Theme | The film functions as a powerful, enduring satire of capitalist dehumanization and factory-led mechanization. | |
| Acting | Chaplin’s physical performance remains a benchmark for comedic timing and emotional resonance. | |
| Acting | The partnership between Chaplin and Paulette Goddard provides a compelling, non-melodramatic emotional core. | |
| Accessibility | The film’s hybrid approach to audio—utilizing silence and sound effects while resisting full dialogue—is viewed as either a bold artistic choice or an outdated relic of a transitioning era. | |
| Direction | The repetitive narrative structure and primitive camera techniques feel revolutionary to some, yet formulaic or technically stagnant to others. |