The Act: Understanding the Zeitgeist of the 20th Century: From Modern Times to the era of Great Dictators

The Act: Understanding the Zeitgeist of the 20th Century: From Modern Times to the era of Great Dictators This blog is a response to a blog task given by our Professor Dr. Dilip Barad Sir as a thinking activity. We had a movie screening of Charlie Chaplin's two movies Modern Times and The Great Dictator to understand the Setting of the 20th century.

Introduction:

In this blog I am going to discuss about the 'Zeitgeist' (Spirit of the time) of the 20th century through two movies Modern Times (1936) and The Great Dictator (1940). Zeitgeist is a German term that combines "Zeit" (time) and "Geist(spirit), encapsulating the prevailing spirit or mood of a specific period in history.It encompasses the collective beliefs, attitudes, and cultural expressions that define a particular era, reflecting the social, political, and economic circumstances of the time. Both of the movies are produced, directed and starring by Charlie Chaplin. He was the only one who continued his tradition of making silent films in the era of sound films. The Great Dictator was his first sound film. In Modern Times Chaplin commented on the desperate employment and financial conditions many people faced during the Great Depression. Before getting into the Setting and the spirit of the time we should take a look at the brief history of the 20th century.

                                     

 

History of the 20th Century:

Major Events:

This century saw two big wars, the tough times of the 1930s known as the Great Depression, a tragic event called the Holocaust, and a long period of tension known as the Cold War. There were also big changes in how people thought about equality, and we even started exploring space!

Key Themes:

The 1900s were marked by the Spanish flu, World Wars I and II, the development of nuclear weapons and power, the space race, countries becoming independent, a lot of technological progress, and a bunch of conflicts during and after the Cold War. All these things really shook up how the world worked.

Industrial Revolution Impact:

Big Changes: Back when the Industrial Revolution happened, life changed a lot. People left the countryside and moved to cities for jobs. Sounds good, but it caused some problems.

Not-So-Great Stuff: Imagine the factories becoming like big machines, and the people working in them feeling like they're part of the machine. That's what happened during the Industrial Revolution.

Consequences: This time brought its share of troubles like unsafe workplaces, kids working too much, bad living conditions for workers, stressed-out lives, not treating women fairly, and money being unevenly spread.

In simpler terms, the 20th century had a lot going on, from big wars and economic struggles to advancements in technology. The Industrial Revolution changed how people lived and worked, bringing both good and not-so-good changes.

Modern Times (1936):

The modern times is set during the Great Depression. The protagonist the factory worker finds himself struggling to deal with the modern equipment that he must operate every day. He found it difficult to work there affecting work of the other workers. The above Frame of the clock, suggesting that life of the contemporary people depends upon the cycle of clock. Everybody does the same things over and over again like the cycle of the clock.

In this frame can see that the inventors of the automatic feeding machine and the factory workers are testing the machine on the factory workers. The invention of this automatic machine was not for owners’ ease but it for the workers so they don’t have to take the launch break and in doing so production would not stop. This spare time of lunch are going to waste for the owners. In the second frame we can see that the protagonist is still working while the machine is feeding him. Another thing which is shown here is the malfunctioning of the machine. Modern era was the era of technological advances, no one was professional it was all experimental. According to A.C. Ward,

Our protagonist, Tramp suffers from a nervous breakdown. After being hospitalized, he is cured but jobless, he leaves hospital to start a new life. He wished to help someone unaware that he is followed by the communist rally mistakenly becoming a communist agitator. He is arrested but released after preventing a jailbreak.

While there are riots ant strikes broke out the Tramp is sighing on the sitting in the cell, showing that the jail is more comfortable than the outside world where everybody is racing for job and money but the only thing, they are getting is anxiety, unemployment, riots, and strikes.

The Great Dictator:

Moving on to the next movie, Chaplin's The Great Dictator is a gripping satirical comedy-drama and reproach towards Adolf Hitler (Adeniod Hynkel, Dictator of Tomania in the movie), Benito Mussolini (Benzino Napaloni, dictator of the nation of Bacteria), fascism, antisemitism, and the Nazis.

The Great Dictator is set during and after the World War I. During the War, an anonymous private (Jews soldier) fighting in the army of Tomania. He rescues an officer named Schultz, but suffers memory loss because of the plane-crash.

The soldier is sent to the hospital where he remains for the next 20 years unaware of the changes that are taking place around him. He does not know that Hynkel has become Dictator of Tomania, and ruthlessly oppressing the Jews.

In a scene from the movie, Hynkel, the leader, is playing with a globe and gets called the 'Dictator of the World.' He starts dreaming of a world where everyone sees him as a god. Similar to Hitler's persuasive speeches, Hynkel is carried away with his big ideas, but his dream world pops like a balloon, suggesting that these grand dreams might not be as great as they seem.

Chaplin's movies, like "Modern Times," depict a world where people are like machines, doing repetitive tasks. The promise of equal opportunities turns out to be untrue. On the other side, war breaks out, leading to social and economic consequences. In simple terms, these movies show the challenges and hardships people faced in the 20th century, where ideals didn't always match reality.