plenty of laughs around some rougher moments- comic masterpiece of the year

Rating: 10/10 (7 June 2006)

The Great Dictator came out at a time when it was riskiest, as on the brink of war a statement of the inaneness shifted n nuttiness of fascism, just shows how Chaplin had practically nothing to fear as an artist. That he is also able to incorporate a version of his usual tramp character into the mix, as a kind of general symbol (if that) of the ordinary shlub suddenly and madly under the gun, is part of the film's major appeal. Going back and forth between the styles of the film are tricky as well, as Chaplin's humor is similar but varying with the two sides of his characters. His Hynkel, the mad dictator of Tomania, is one of Chaplin's most inspired creations for himself, as he sputters off in a perfected gibberish/slant on the German-hate speech with many of the gags coming off. Some of these, ironically for the silent-film legend, are through the dialog pieces in his speeches and in the sometimes volatile and always nuanced (in the over-the-top way)with his underlings. Other bits just come from the way Chaplin's facial expressions go here to there- though his physical way of comedy isn't as strong as the other character he plays (aside from the appropriately iconic globe-tossing symbolism).
In the other story we get a revamped Tramp- this time in the form of a Jewish barber- who in the midst of helping out a girl Hannah gets into some trouble with the overbearing troops from Hynkel's army. He also sees around him the effects from this dictatorship, of the Jews being sent to the gas chamber, but is spared and even acts as a sign of hope thanks to an old friend in Schultz. This all leads to a kind of case of mistaken identity, leading up to a 'big' speech. Big maybe being too broad a word to describe it- it's an outpouring of the highest kind that is able to work in such a satire, where all the points are spoken very clearly and to the point of being almost too simple. But the truth behind it undercuts the rest of the comedy in the film, which marks it as being memorable. And for myself as a viewer I remember both sides well. I still have fresh, admiring images in my head of Chaplin's barber running around being chased by the soldiers in the ghetto, how effortlessly a lot of this starts to seem when the craft turns to a beautiful transparency. There are certain parts of Chaplin's script, the final long talk aside, that ring out nicely.
One of the best films of the early 1940's, this is also one of- if not the- classic of Chaplin's sound years, where a time in history that needed such a talent as his came through with a precise account of pathos, wit and silliness that all makes his films unique.