Modern Times (DVD)

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Unfortunately, because the film is basically a series of brief sketches, it has little actual plot to tie things together, giving it a somewhat nebulous quality. Each sequence is linked thematically to the others, but they give the impression of a Monty Python movie. Not that that's bad. I love Python as I love Chaplin, but it doesn't always make for the most coherent story line. The film also gets inevitably sentimental, as all Chaplin films do; and while some of the comedy works, some of it doesn't pan out so well. So, it's something of a hit-and-miss affair. But for me there are more hits than misses, so the film remains a pleasure. To suggest it is a classic would be redundant.

Video:
The new restoration and transfer are probably as good as the original print, which was pretty good to begin with. The result is a picture that is very clean and easy on the eye. There are no signs of age whatever, no lines, spots, scratches, or flickers of light. The black-and-white contrasts are perhaps not so deeply pronounced as they are in Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" from this same source, nor are any of the images as sharply defined as possible, but I would not fault these conditions to the transfer. For an old film, the quality is excellent by any standards.

Audio:
The audio options include either the film's original monaural soundtrack or a new Dolby Digital 5.1 track. The DD 5.1 sound is louder, clearer, and better focused than the mono track, as well as being more spread out across the front channels. Some small degree of musical ambience is allowed to seep into the rear speakers, as well as occasional crowd noises and such, but mostly this is a front-channel affair. The only drawback to the 5.1 sound is that it's slightly brighter than its mono counterpart and sometimes harsher. It's never obtrusive, but it's hardly state of the art, either.

Extras:
Disc one in the set is devoted solely to the movie. It comes in a standard, 1.33:1 ratio, black-and-white screen presentation, of course, with its Dolby Digital 5.1 or Dolby mono soundtracks and twenty scene selections. English and French are provided for spoken languages, with English captions for the hearing impaired, and English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Thai, and Korean subtitles.

The second disc is given over entirely to bonus items, the first of which is an introduction by David Robinson, Chaplin's biographer; and the most important of which is a new, twenty-six minute documentary, "Chaplin Today: Modern Times," by Philippe Truffault, in which French filmmakers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne analyze and discuss the movie. Then, there are several deleted scenes, including Chaplin's nonsense song in its complete version and a scene in which Charlie tries to cross a street against a mechanized stop signal. Next, there is a Karaoke segment, which helps clarify the mystery of Charlie's nonsense song, plus a rendition of the film's theme song, "Smile," sung by Liberace (1956). After that, you'll find a forty-two minute, government-sponsored educational film, "Behind-the-Scenes in the Machine Age" (1931); a ten-minute promotional musical film commissioned by the Ford Motor Company, the "Symphony in F" (1940); and a ten-minute Cuban documentary short, "Por primera vez/For the First Time" (1967), on the reaction of peasants while watching their first motion picture, "Modern Times." Finally, there are photo and poster galleries, scenes from ten other films in "The Chaplin Collection," and several theatrical trailers.

Parting Thoughts:
Whether "Modern Times" still works for modern audiences is a matter of taste, but there's no denying that many of the movie's satiric jabs at big business, industrialization, the working class, and the impersonalization of contemporary society are still relevant today. Indeed, our present lives may be more wound up in mechanical devices than ever before, with televisions, computers, and automatic conveniences galore.

The actual comedy in "Modern Times" is another matter. Some of it works; some of it doesn't. Only the viewer can decide what's funny. While I can't personally say it's the funniest motion picture I've ever seen, I can suggest that parts of it are brilliant enough to have induced me to watch it more than a few times.

"Modern Times" is one of ten Chaplin films that Paris-based MK2 and the Warner studios are releasing in special-edition DVD sets. Among the others in the first wave of entries are "The Gold Rush," "The Great Dictator," and "Limelight." I recommend them all.

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