The Great Dictator

Charlie Chaplin’s film The Great Dictator is a satire on Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Charlie Chaplin plays a Jewish barber who lives in the slums, but is mistaken for Adenoid Hynkel, the dictator of Tomania which is also the mirror representation of Hitler. The humor in the film, I believe, is appropriate because it was a way for the world to almost release some laughter towards the turmoil and pain Germany caused during World War II. These were times of great sadness and depression, and films like these seemed to make things easier  for people to cope with their emotions.

Charlie Chaplin had me dying of laughter just in the first five minutes of the film when he was circling the rocket that kept following him and spontaneously ignited out of nowhere causing him and his mates to run for their lives. Scenes like this with Charlie Chaplin’s understanding of depicting humor on screen made Hitler’s reign look so sad and pathetic by how easily it was to manipulate and control the masses. The film exposes how susceptible Germany was to Nazism and anti-Semitism which was composed of concepts and ideologies that were so ridiculous for anyone to buy into. Charlie Chaplin knew how to make Germans look silly.

However, my reaction to the final scene was quite different from the rest of the movie. I loved the message of unity and the end to violence in his final speech. It was meant to comfort those who have been harmed by World War II to give them hope and remind them that things will get better. It honestly made me a bit emotional because of how powerful his words were. You assume he’s going to agree and reaffirm the last man’s speech, but instead delivers an opposing message, one of peace and freedom from violence and hatred. Charlie Chaplin finished the film with boldness that was needed in this kind of film to send a lesson of what we should all learn from humanity's mistakes stemming from greed, hate, intolerance, and what people in power can accomplish. The speech ends with the crowd praising their supposed leader with applause and cheering, and this represents the bright future of the world Post World War II despite the horrors that have occurred.

This film was meant to shed light on the ironic aspects of Germany and its people under the rule of Hitler. It was a parody with a twist at the end. We all expected it to finish comically since it seemed to be developing that way throughout the film, but the gravity of its seriousness at the end, I thought, was perfect for a film with a subject as fragile as this. It emphasized that war is no joke, nor is hatred, racism, violence etc. Chaplin's deliverance of humor with its twist of seriousness sent a worldly message that was more than appropriate in The Great Dictator to give everyone a sense of vigor after what has happened.