Charlie Chaplin died in 1977 at the age of 88. He would have been 133 years old today. Boy would he have loved to see what the world makes of his film MODERN TIMES, released next month on CRITERION. I think he might have loved to see these Modern Times for himself in honesty but that is another story. Chaplin’s final outing as the Little Tramp is a delicately intelligent take off of the automation of industry, the absurdity of society and the ever diminished role of the person. The tramp is an inept factory employee who cant quite get it right. Hammers and turns. Bangs and then bashes. Its all the wrong way. Salvation lay at the door of the outside world and humanity. He becomes smitten with a gorgeous lady (Paulette Goddard) but not before he is bonked on the head and considered mentally unwell. Dispatched to a sanatorium, he is cured and sent out into the streets. Where havoc and hilarity ensue.

The brilliant part of Chaplin’s work was its rhythm. These are the gentle movements of the way life ebbs, flows, runs and goes. In MODERN TIMES it hums with that of the then modern world. In previous films it was driven by the rhythm of nature (THE GOLD RUSH), family (THE KID) and entertainment (CITY LIGHTS). What is also brilliant (and explored in this new release) is Chaplin comments on modernity and how they connect to the growing world of automation. This is probably why he introduced his most the iconic character to MODERN TIMES certainly, but also why he delights in the mechanics of absurdity (David Robinson commentary expands on this). I would add, he might seem to enjoy these flowing interactions of machine and man but he loves the lingered pail of human love. John Bengtson and Jeffrey Vance essays both get this and get it well indeed. The Criterion transfer has a lot to commend it with, but we have to be fair. The box set version from Curzon, is still holding up well.

Special Features:

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
New audio commentary by Chaplin biographer David Robinson
Two new visual essays, by Chaplin historians John Bengtson and Jeffrey Vance
New program on the film’s visual and sound effects, with experts Craig Barron and Ben Burtt
Interview from 1992 with Modern Times music arranger David Raksin
Chaplin Today: “Modern Times” (2004), a half-hour program with filmmakers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
Two segments removed from the film
Three theatrical trailers
All at Sea (1933), a home movie by Alistair Cooke featuring Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, and Cooke, plus a new score by Donald Sosin and a new interview with Cooke’s daughter, Susan Cooke Kittredge
The Rink (1916), a Chaplin two-reeler highlighting his skill on wheels
For the First Time (1967), a Cuban documentary short about a projectionist who shows Modern Times to firsttime moviegoers
More!
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Saul Austerlitz and a piece by film scholar Lisa Stein that includes excerpts from Chaplin’s writing about his travels in 1931 and 1932