Review of The Great Dictator (1940) by Davide M — 08 Mar 2018

The first true sound film from devoted silent movie maestro Charlie Chaplin, The Great Dictator has aged severely in the nearly 80 years since its release. It's attempts to balance the Director's trademark slapstick humour with serious satire often feel unpalatable, and the overdone silliness can be grating at times, as is the length at which some scenes run for, particularly when there is no music playing, giving them a hollow, awkward feel.

Chaplin is completely in his element here, essentially playing The Tramp as 2 individuals, one a mad, posturing tyrant, the other man so closely modelled on The Tramp he may as well be called that. It's competent in most departments but is a disaster when it comes to basic editing.

I don't know if it's the transition from silent film to sound, but some of the scenes just stop when they look like they still have time to go, cutting off in the middle of conversations, and some of them last less than a minute.

It's jarring to say the least and completely interrupts the flow the scenes usually have. I wanted to enjoy it more than I did, and I appreciate the bravery of going after essentially the most dangerous man at the time, but time hasn't been kind to it, and the uneven tone makes it hard to like both the comedy and the pathos.