Directed by Charles Chaplin and released in France on April 4, 1945, The Great Dictator, with an average of 4.4777 stars out of five, is the best film of the decade 1940-1949 according to AlloCiné viewers.
Story ? In the Jewish ghetto lives a small barber who looks a lot like Adenoid Hinkel, the Tomain dictator who decided to exterminate the Jewish people. During the raid, the barber was arrested in the company of Hinkel’s bitter opponent Schultz…
Before signing this masterpiece and absolute classic, Chaplin made two sound films: City Lights (1931) and Modern Times (1936). But The dictator is his first real feature film with dialogues. Written in 1938, the film actually began shooting on September 9, 1939, eight days after the Nazi invasion of Poland and six days after Great Britain and France declared war on Germany.
If the first “real” Hitler appeared in the English film version of the musical, “The Mikado” (1939), which was followed by other impersonations of the chancellor, Chaplin played the first Hitler of American cinema.
It was in this film that caricatures of other Nazi greats appeared, with Henry Daniel as Garbich (Goebbels) and Billy Gilbert as Marshall Herring (Goering), and Jack Oak playing the role of bacterial dictator Benzimo Napoloni (Mussolini). .
Few films on location have been able to capture the antiquated air of the period with such poignancy, with no doubt another equally admirable and vivid work, Frank Borzage’s The Storm That Kills, which chronicles the arrival of the Nazis. In a small, deeply united society, it disrupts social relations, leading to tragedy.
In his inimitable style, which combines burlesque and silent film infused (a great scene of an inflatable globe with which Chaplin plays), the actor-director finally delivers the ultimate message of great power and deeply humanistic freedom and tolerance.
“Envy poisoned the minds of men, covered the world with hatred, led us to misery and bloodshed. We have evolved the speed to lock ourselves in.
The machines that give us abundance leave us dissatisfied (…) We must fight to liberate the world, to break down borders and racial barriers, to end greed, hatred and “intolerance”.
We must strive to build a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead all people to happiness. Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite!”
A visual speech that continues to resonate today. In 1997, he chose a film National Film Registry Due to his interest in the US Library of Congress “cultural, historical or aesthetic” important. It was least of all for one of the most famous works of cinema.
Latest and very cinephile choice
For reference, here are the four other films that make up your top 5 of the period; A sharp and cinephile choice that is a joy to behold. On the second step of the podium is Max Ophuls’s Letter from an Unknown Woman, a belle-époque drama with an average audience rating of 4,328 out of 5.
The bronze medal goes to Frank Capra’s masterpiece, Life is Beautiful, a Christmas classic broadcast almost every year in American homes, averaging 4,322 out of 5. Orson Welles makes it 4th with his indestructible Citizen Kane collecting. Average viewer rating 4,317 out of 5.
The film that marks the back of this top 5 is sure to please Scorsese, as it is one of his favorite films that he watches at least once a year: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Red Shoes. “No other film has ever taken the obsession with art to the point where it takes over your life with such a sense of drama and visual style.” said the master. You know what to do if you’ve never seen this gem before.
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
