Chaplin’s Modern Times. Silent Movie Concert

Chaplin’s Modern Times. Silent Movie Concert

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There are few more iconic films than Charlie Chaplin’s 1936 masterpiece Modern Times, one of just 25 movies cited for its cultural significance by the Library of Congress.

This sharp commentary on industrialization and inequality, inspired by a real-life conversation between Chaplin and Mahatma Gandhi, has become steadily more meaningful and relevant with age.

Music is vital to the voiceless story of Chaplin’s ‘little tramp’ and his struggle to survive in the modern world. Chaplin, a trained violinist, masterminded the score (including the well-known song Smile) in collaboration with David Raksin and Alfred Newman. The vivid music that resulted does as much of the storytelling as Chaplin’s bold cinematography and outlandish stunts. It is played live here under conductor Adrian Prabava, synced to a screening of film. You will laugh, you will cry, and as well as seeing a fully restored cinematic masterpiece on the big screen, you will hear some of the most evocative movie music ever written.

Photo: © Roy Export Company S.A.S.