Chaplin and His “The Great Dictator”

“A day without laughter is a day wasted”. I like this saying especially when I watch Chaplin’s movies. Chaplin is one of the greatest comedians in film history. Wearing a tight dress,over sized trousers and shoes, holding a walking stick, along with his typical bowler hat and mustache, Chaplin successfully created a unique image in his movies that is remembered by his audiences. “Chaplin” stands for humor, satire, and comedy.

In The Great Dictator, Chaplin used a number of strategies to create ridiculous effects. The clumsy soldier makes many mistakes that cause lots of funny combat scenes during the battle. The marching of the soldier with the enemy and the reversed flying of the airplane interested us for they do not make sense. Some scenes are surreal, such as the auto turning bullet of the canon, and the status of Venus and Rodin’s The Thinker raising its arm to show respect to Hynkel. Another interesting scene is when Chaplin shaves a customer to Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5. His actions which matched the musical rhythm are incredible.

Chaplin making us laugh on the screen is not just for entertainment. He may be attempting to have us think deeply with his artistic combination of comic effects and serious issues. An example of this is when he makes a long final speech in this film: “…We are coming into a new world, a kinder world, where men will rise above their hate, their greed and brutality…” Even though seventy years have past, the speech of Fight for Liberty is still powerful to me.