LogFAQs > #972126590

Kind of shocked you guys are so harsh on Modern Times. Yeah, there's slapstick stuff in there, but Chaplin was a master of turning that into a physical art rather than simply an act of violence; I think Jackie Chan is one of the best comparisons. The vision he employs in the conception of the machinery, the full body movements the Tramp throws himself into with equal parts grace and oafishness, it all contributes to and offsets a surprisingly sharp backdrop of labour protests and the costs of capitalism in a post-Industrial Revolution age. I say this as someone who's not real big on silent film and found The Cameraman a little limp, I feel like Chaplin's silent work plays to the format's absurd strengths rather than feeling limited by its shortcomings.