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The Great Dictator review

Posted : 5 years ago on 1 March 2019 05:14

Good to know that people like Chaplin were dabing against Hitler and somehow that fucking idiot laught about the joke that they make to him. Like, if that are the nazis in that era, could you imagine the idiots that Trump supports right know? Jeez

 



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The Great Dictator review

Posted : 5 years, 1 month ago on 8 February 2019 06:47

A pesar de ser una de las obras más influyentes de la historia del cine debí decir que la gente más casual puede encontrarla un poco lenta y aburrida, sobretodo sino le llama mucho la atención las películas de la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
A mí personalmente me gustó bastante y puedo imaginarme lo que significó para alguien de la época esta cinta, trata temas que en ese momento eran sumamente sencibles de manera sutil y humorística, pero al mismo tiempo muy clara.
Pero incluso más que a los amantes de la historia la recomiendo a quienes disfruten el humor del siglo XX tipo Chespirito y apasionados del cine en general.


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A great classic

Posted : 9 years, 10 months ago on 15 May 2014 10:00

To be honest, even though I enjoyed Chaplin’s later work like ‘Monsieur Verdoux’ and ‘Limelight’, I wasn’t exactly blown away by these movies (I should re-watch them again though). On the other hand, you won't hear me complaining about this amazing and timeless masterpiece. Where should I start? Even though it was released 13 years after the end of the silent era, this was Charles Chaplin's first all-talking, all-sound film so, in the contrary to some of his contemporaries, he didn't have much trouble with sound, that's for sure. But that's just a technicality, the damned thing is more than 70 years old but it is still bright and shinning. I mean, the guy made this right in the middle of the WWII, making a parody of Hitler when the guy was still out there bringing his terror throughout Europe. Even the great Kubrick who made some of the most amazing features didn't ever do something similar. The only minor flaw was that there was no real plot and the whole thing was really episodic but it wasn’t a big deal. I especially loved the final scene when the barber gives his heartbreaking speech and it must be one of my favorite scenes ever. Anyway, to conclude, it is an amazing movie, the proof that cinema is an Art and one of the greatest and it is a must see for any decent movie lover.



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Rips off Hitler and Hitler loved it!!

Posted : 14 years, 1 month ago on 29 January 2010 07:42

This is definately the most serious film from Charles Chaplin of the ones that I have seen so far from him. This film is very serious obviously because it is a war film. It was a rather serious film too because of how the story was written especially when it was made. It was funny that Chaplin was ripping off Adolf Hitler with all the speeches, walks, impressions etc. It was probably scary aswell because Hitler was alive at the time and was a dark time because it was almost like the start of the Holocaust. Apparently, Hitler really admired Chaplin after The Great Dictator. There have been alot of piss-takes of Hitler but this one tops them all.


Charlie Chaplin's acting in this film as both Adenoid Hynkel who is the Dictator Of Tomania and who takes the piss out of Hitler with this character. His acting was funny as the Jewish Barber aswell but was funnier as his other character. As far as Adenoid Hynkel is concerned, Chaplin shows the comedy side to who is probably the coldest and most evil person that ever lived. Chaplin was a man who could always see through the comedy side of things no matter what happens which is what I love about him. His performance as the Jewish Barber was like another piss-take with Hitler aswell because how Hitler or any of his men would treat a Jew. It was funny because he was mocking Hitler but wasn't funny because it really happened. Chaplin's most serious performance and because of this, he did deserve his first and only acting Oscar nomination.


The direction from Chaplin was almost the same as the films that he has done before The Great Dictator with very similar selections of camera angles, very similar sorts of characters and also the way it was filmed as far as things like music is concerned. The screenplay was very original which isn't what most war films are like. They are either true stories or books. Chaplin just thought of how he was going to write it. One thing that slightly disappointed me about The Great Dictator was that the two characters Chaplin was portraying were switching really quickly. It took quite a long while for it to get into both characters and their storylines.


It is the first non-silent Chaplin film that I have seen so far. It is my third favourite Chaplin film of the ones I have seen. I liked The Gold Rush and especially Modern Times more. The Great Dictator is the masterpiece of comedy-war films and of a masterful piss-take of the cold-blooded human that was Adolf Hitler.


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Brilliant Chaplin stuff!

Posted : 15 years, 11 months ago on 21 April 2008 11:32

"We've just discovered the most wonderful, the most marvelous poisinous gas. It will kill everybody."

Charlie Chaplin quickly became one of the greatest film comedians in cinema history. His films are constantly full of such witty satire, quirky characters and a mixed bag of hilarious gags.

With The Great Dictator I feel that Chaplin has really excelled himself. Although not nearly as good as Modern Times, this addition to Chaplin's résumé is one that is still remembered as one of the greatest achievements in cinema history.

The Great Dictator is a film that spoofs Adolf Hitler and his stance against the Jews that eventually initiated the Second World War. Naturally, the film was a very bold move for its time. While in pre-production no-one ever thought that it would actually be made. A year later the film was in the can and ready for release. The film met with a mixed critical reaction but was a big commercial success.

Many will find Chaplin's style of humour quite hilarious but others may not. It depends on your taste. With The Great Dictator there's a host of purely brilliant gags ranging from sight gags, slapstick gags or just witty dialogue. Heck, I even found it hilarious when Chaplin was doing actions that were accompanied by specially synchronised music. Oh, and a very special mention to the hilariously clever title cards at the beginning of the movie that already had me laughing.

But what I found to be even more genius was that even with scenes of drama as opposed to humour, the film makes an impact. And for this reason it is groundbreaking. Chaplin's speech delivered towards the end of the movie was an especially brave move on the part of the filmmakers. It's qualities like these that we never find in modern comedies like something starring Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler. Unlike these two men, Chaplin's productions are actually brilliant because they take a chance. While still being mighty entertaining in terms of side-splitting gags, he actually delivers a potent message through the films he created.

The Great Dictator is the story of a young Jewish barber (Chaplin) who loses his memory after crashing a plane (that he was riding in upside down) during World War I. When he returns home he's admitted to an asylum. But after escaping the asylum he is unaware of the dictator named Adenoid Hynkel (also played by Chaplin) who has implemented laws against the Jews. He is also unaware of the stormtroopers at Hynkel's command who are persecuting Jews due to his policies and beliefs.

Chaplin plays duel roles here, and does so extremely well. Despite having moustaches for both characters he is capable of showing distinction between the two. He's an exceptionally talented actor who can have the audience laughing by means of physical gags or just a spoken line.

Amongst the memorable scenes we have the dictator playing with a balloon globe, the dictator struggling to look superior to his rival, and a very amusing scene during which barber chairs are elevated to quite enormous lengths. However my only complaint would be the film's length. All the better gags are at the beginning of the film unfortunately and it feels a bit overlong, running at about 2 hours. But even despite the length, the film moves at a brisk pace and is highly entertaining (and essential) viewing.

A very important production. The film also marks Chaplin's first full sound feature.


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