The Great Dictator

"Look up, Hannah! The soul of man has been given wings and at last he is beginning to fly."

My friend recommended I watch this film, I was pretty reluctant to watch a Chaplin film after seeing parts of some of his silent Films on TCM, I'm not a huge fan of the sort of humor I saw in some, and not too keen on silent films either which stained my view of Chaplin even though this isn't a silent film. For some reason something in me changed and I wanted to watch the film, I'm glad I did.

• Title: The Great Dictator
• Year of Release: 1940
• Director: Charlie Chaplin
• Genre: Comedy/Drama
• Rating: 8.5/10
  

This film is a comedy that spoofs Adolf Hitler, Mussolini and their ridiculous views on Jewish people, their hypocritical views on Brunette's, etc, of course it's exaggerated. As well as showing a character that spoofs Hitler, Chaplin plays a nameless Jewish barber, who has his fair share of problems from the very beginning of the film right through until the end.

From the beginning of the film I found myself laughing trying to keep quiet so I did not wake anyone in the house, this didn't continue so much throughout the rest of the film, I didn't find everything completely "laugh out loud" funny, but still I found certain things quite funny. At the beginning I had to hold in laughter when he drops the very crafty looking Hand Grenade down his sleeve. Then there are scenes where you will just smile, like when the Barber falls through a roof into someones apartment, I can see that being quite funny but in todays days and time that has been done quite a lot it didn't feel original, though at the time, I'm sure it was. I loved Hynkels (Hitlers) bursts of raging German with the nice subtle English translation.

The final scene is wildly discussed because, well it's absolutely true, and so very intelligently constructed. Though the film is sixty eight years old the final scene is still relevant today, if this doesn't show how great a writer Chaplin is, then I don't know what will. The acting in this scene in particular was quite good, the Barber transcended the message perfectly and makes you realise the serious nature of the film, at the same time enjoying the humorous side.

Another element about this film is the fact that this was such a brave film, that almost feels ahead of it's time. Of course, Chaplin did not know what was going to happen after 1940, he was not aware of the Holocaust (obviously), he's also gone on record as to saying if he had of known he would not of made this film. The fact this film is so anti-Hitler is interesting, it's more interesting that it wasn't anti-Germany which would be very easy to have done back in those times, Chaplin could of easily made this a propaganda film, but instead did something more, he made an honest film.

I recommend anyone remotely interested in this film to see it, as well those who has studied or is studying Hitler and WWII to watch this film. It's entertaining to say the least, it doesn't have an annoying out-dated feel that some films of the time did. Unlike most "comedies" this film actually has a message it tries to bring to you, watch this film, you will be better off for having seen it.

Click me to view the trailer