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Lesson 2: The Development of Cinematic Language
Chaplin as a Figure
In many ways, Chaplin could be thought of as a very progressive figure, politically and socially. But aesthetically, in terms of his art, a very conservative figure, in that he continued to make silent films years, almost ten years, after the technology of filmmaking synchronized talking was around.
Here we see an old cinema short, a news film shown between features, of Chaplin arriving to cheering crowds in Europe, where he met with characters such as Gandhi. This again gives us a sense of his stature throughout Europe. It was during this trip to Europe that he took in 1931, that he would start to think about some of the impact of the global recession, which by now had reached Europe and was impacting everything about some of the issues. This would be the fodder, in a sense, for Modern Times. In this clip, you will see Chaplin with Gandhi in a window.
Video 2.13: Chaplin news film (1931).
Chaplin news film Video Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER: Early in 1931 after the premiere of City Lights, Chaplin set off on a world tour which was to keep him away for more than a year. In London, Paris, and Berlin, wherever he went, adoring crowds mobbed him. At the time, he was the most famous man in the world. Even if he was received by those we tend to call people in high places, Chaplin had seen depression, unemployment, and despair. He'd begun to ask questions and come up with his own theories about a better redistribution of wealth.
He had discussed these theories with such eminent personalities as his friend HG Wells, Albert Einstein, and the Mahatma Gandhi, whom he met here in London. During his meeting with Gandhi, Chaplain expounded the idea that machines, when used properly, could be a boon to mankind, but employed solely for profit, they brought only misery.