Modern Times

193687 minutesG

4.4

Arcplot Score

📝 Unconventional

Unverified

⭐ 8.5IMDb

🍅 98%Rotten Tomatoes

Ⓜ️ 96/100Metacritic

🎬 8.3TMDb

📊 4.8Popularity

🏆6 wins & 1 nomination total

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Directed by: Charlie Chaplin

Chaplin's last 'silent' film, filled with sound effects, was made when everyone else was making talkies. Charlie turns against modern society, the machine age, (The use of sound in films ?) and progress. Firstly we see him frantically trying to keep up with a production line, tightening bolts. He is selected for an experiment with an automatic feeding machine, but various mishaps leads his boss to believe he has gone mad, and Charlie is sent to a mental hospital - When he gets out, he is mistaken for a communist while waving a red flag, sent to jail, foils a jailbreak, and is let out again. We follow Charlie through many more escapades before the film is out.

Box Office

Budget:$1.5M

Revenue:$1.8M

Profit:$0.3M

Arcplot Score Breakdown

Beat Timing Precision7.3/10

Emotional Arc Impact1/10

Thematic Consistency5/10

Overall Score4.4/10

Beat Sheet

15 plot points

Opening Image

1 min

Theme Stated

5 min

Set-Up

10 min

Catalyst

15 min

Debate

20 min

Break Into Two

25 min

B Story

35 min

Fun and Games

45 min

Midpoint

55 min

Bad Guys Close In

65 min

All Is Lost

70 min

Dark Night of the Soul

75 min

Break Into Three

80 min

Finale

85 min

Final Image

87 min

Emotional Arc

+100-10

Plot Points

Opening Image

1 min

The Tramp works on an assembly line, overwhelmed by industrial machinery. Tone: chaos and absurdity.

Theme Stated

5 min

Theme of human dignity vs. industrial dehumanization introduced.

Set-Up

10 min

Tramp struggles to keep up at factory. Social and economic challenges established.

Catalyst

15 min

Tramp suffers breakdown at work. Forced to leave factory. Life disrupted.

Debate

20 min

Tramp faces unemployment, poverty. Questions his place in modern society.

Break Into Two

25 min

Tramp navigates the city, meets a young homeless woman. Begins new journey of survival.

B Story

35 min

Relationship with the young woman deepens. Partnership and camaraderie emerge. Emotional stakes rise.

Fun and Games

45 min

Various comedic escapades and misadventures: work, jail, and street survival. Humor and charm highlight struggles.

Midpoint

55 min

Tramp faces significant setback: wrongfully imprisoned. Stakes heighten.

#10

Bad Guys Close In

65 min

Economic pressures, societal constraints, and misunderstandings threaten Tramp and friend.

#11

All Is Lost

70 min

Hope seems lost: separation and isolation from companion. Emotional low point.

#12

Dark Night of the Soul

75 min

Tramp reflects on life, resilience, and humanity despite adversity.

#13

Break Into Three

80 min

Tramp reunites with young woman. Takes control of fate, hopeful for future.

#14

Finale

85 min

Tramp and companion walk toward uncertain future together. Triumph of spirit and optimism.

#15

Final Image

87 min

Tramp smiling, walking into horizon with friend. Humanity, hope, and resilience endure.