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(sorry for the extra large pic there) I bought this during a Criterion movie sale, on a blind purchase, based on me liking Chaplin movies, and that this one is touted as one of his best. Boy, am I glad that I did.
On the surface, it's a delightful, silly comedy of Chaplin's style. But there's absolutely more satire, propaganda, and social commentary to this film. I think it truly becomes amazing though, when you view it in historical context.
Like all films, I tried to view it as the filmmaker intended, and it's clear that Chaplin meant this as propaganda and to insult Hitler. It's delightfully silly and had me howling at parts. So much background information could be shared about the film, and I highly recommend any viewer watch the Criterion commentary and bonus materials as well. For starters, the film was started in 1938, and released in 1940, BEFORE WWII truly went global. This was before Pearl Harbor. Today, with our history, we view films like this with an automatic consensus that "everyone agrees Hitler was despicable, and of course he should be mocked and denigrated"!!! But in 1940, lots of America admired Hitler, thought Fascism was pretty good, saw no problem with hating Jews, and wanted to have no part of the troubles going on in Europe. Even Chaplin himself didn't know the full depth of Hitler's depravity, and later after WWII said that if he knew, he never would have made the film. But I'm so glad that he did.
This is also Chaplin's first full talking film, where he closes out the silent mime role of his "Little Tramp" character for the last time and lets him talk as the Barber in this film. (In "Modern Times", also a film gem, there is sound and talking, but the Tramp only sings gibberish) The talking works. And all of the satire of Hitler and the Nazi party is downright hilarious and spot-on, calling Hitler's character "Hynkel", Goebbels "Garbage", Austria becomes "Ostrich, or Osterlich", and Mussolini becomes Napolini. Chaplin shows us how even today, world leaders who hold themselves up to be gods, grandly talking with great gestures, noses up in the air, talk without substance or principles, and really just spout empty gibberish like he makes up in this film. The film ends with a 6 minute speech by Chaplin that is direct propaganda straight to the camera. many people thought this speech ruined the movie, but I thought it was a wonderful end to this particular work, even if I wondered about some of the content.
A lovely film that I would recommend to anyone, and again I highly encourage getting more information on historical context as well. 4 stars for the movie, an extra half star for how amazing it becomes with context. :45: out of :5:
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