One of the greats delivers his definitive cinematic statement

Rating: 9/10 (14 November 2014)

THE GREAT DICTATOR is a cinematic masterpiece with equal doses of vaudevillian humor and poignant drama. It is the story of Adenoid Hynkel and a Jewish barber. One aspires to take over the world, while the other just wants to live his life free of oppression. It is to Charlie Chaplin's credit that this film is able to speak to the human heart in such a moving way, which is what it's all about. Charlie Chaplin gives two excellent performances as the dictator, Adenoid Hynkel, and a Jewish barber. Both roles give him an opportunity to display the physical comedy which he was already so famous for. He also gets a lot of laughs by ranting in pseudo-German. The rest of the cast also do well in their roles, particularly the actor who played Benzino Napaloni (a parody of Mussolini). There was also some great cinematography and set design. The only minor thing I felt was wrong was the opening sequence, which I felt dragged on a little too long. Still, it was a nice throwback to Chaplin's previous silent movies and had some nice sight gags (really, there was quite a number of hilarious sight gags throughout). Overall, this should be seen by any self-respecting movie-lover, if only for the impassioned speech at the end, which ranks as one of the greatest movie speeches I've ever witnessed.