Film I highly recommend: The Great Dictator

Last weekend I watched Charles Chaplin's famous film, The Great Dictator, on DVD. It is because I planned to use it as an English teaching material in my class.

It is Chaplin's first talkie, that is, a film with sound and words, where we can enjoy his real voice as well as his characteristic funny quick movements.

The film's story is set in an imaginary country named Ptomania during two wars. In the film two opposite main characters appear; the one is Hynkel, an oppressive dictator of Ptomania after the first war and the other is a barber who temporarily loses his memory in a plane accident during the first war. One of the scenario's most challenging points is that the ordinary barber's looks happen to be similar to the brutal dictator's, and two interchange by a happening misunderstanding.

The plot is really gripping. From the historical view-point, Hykel is definitely a parody of Hitler, the German dictator and leader in those days and an ordinary barber is a double of Chaplin, a representative of those who know the meaning of LOVE. chaplin started making the film in September 1939, the very month when Nazi Germany started to invade Poland and the Second World War broke out.

Making this kind of film in the historical context was so dangerous. Nevertheless, Chaplin dared to do it because he definitely recognized the whole world was heading toward the end of humanity.

The film is fully packed with what our whole humanity must completely understand and send to the next generation. It is so-called human spiritual heritage.

Especially the last speech given by a barber is worthy seeing, listening and reading aloud once a day. As far as I'm concerned, I want to introduce the barber's humanitarian great speech as an introduction of our national constitution if I were the president of a new country. The film is beyond what is stunning. It's perfect. Every time watching it, you would discover something new and precious in detail. And you must know the real power of comedy as well as real courage. Act and Love!

(written on 2 June 2009)

********

twitter by myself:

They happen in eight minutes.