Walter Benjamin Silent Film Analysis

In 1935, Walter Benjamin, a German philosopher as well as cultural critic, argued that art, in an age of excessive mechanical production and reproduction would be based and revolve around politics and current events. Benjamin analyzed through his essay, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” the shifting focus of films and art from the classical traditional world, to the modern, industrial age. Benjamin believed that the world was transitioning from a time where “unique” was being overthrown by “reproduction.” Artwork and products were no longer valued for their unique attributes and quality. Instead, society preferred their art through photographs and cinematic reproduction, and their products from mass assembly lines. This concept affected the Silver Screen, where the industrial and machine era was seeping its way into storylines. Film was used as a way to “aestheticize politics” and even promote propaganda. Chaplin is an obvious example of a man who fully understood Benjamin’s notions. Both individuals realized that silent cinema was able to influence and change the audience’s perception, whether it be about politics, society, war, or even themselves. Silent film is powerful. To many, Chaplin’s films were nothing more than silly slapstick comedy designed to …show more content…
What’s even more impressive is he did it silently. In Benjamin’s essay, he takes the time to analyze Chaplin as well. Benjamin says, Chaplin’s icon “lies in the fact that, in his work, the human being is integrated into the film image by way of his gestures..” and that his acting “applies the law of the cinematic image sequence to human motorial functions.” Benjamin means that slapstick comedy and his pantomiming character was almost a way to ease an audience into understanding the real, underlying messages that Chaplin was trying to