Charles Chaplin — Les Temps modernes / Modern Times (1936)
Orchestre des Jardins Musicaux cond. Valentin Reymond
Coproduction: Opéra Décentralisé Neuchâtel, La Lanterne Magique, Cinémathèque suisse
Modern Times marks the last appearance of The Tramp, who brought worldwide glory to Charles Chaplin and who remains a universal fictional character. The world that the vagabond leaves is very different from the one where he was born, two decades earlier. At the time, it symbolised the suffering of all the under-privileged of a world that emerged from the 19th century. Mass unemployment in the face of the beginnings of industrial automation. Chaplin is deeply concerned about the social problems of this new age, with unemployment being the central question. Machines should serve the good of humanity, instead of causing tragedy and job-loss. In Modern Times, he transforms his worries into comedy: an immortal work magnified by the exceptional music composed by the filmmaker himself.
