Modern Times: The Human Voice
Even though “Modern Times” is a silent film, its rarely-appear human voice represents different kinds of power.
From the beginning to the middle of the film, the only two voices we heard are from the boss of the factory and the boss of the food eating machine company. The boss demands instructions to his workers through the screens that appear everywhere, from the control room to bathroom, the only private place in the public area. On the other hand, the voice of the boss of the machine company is prerecorded, which implies that it has been delivered to many places and has huge influence on people. The voices of those two bosses represent Capitalism, which is the power that people in the film can’t escape from.
At the end of the film, we suddenly heard Chaplin’s singing voices. We don’t heard his voice until he sings implies that he doesn’t have power until then. The singing voice of Chaplin represents his individual power that goes against Capitalism.
