The Movie
After taking on The Great Depression in Modern Times, legendary filmmaker Charles Chaplin explored The War in Europe with one of his most controversial creations, The Great Dictator. The title character is Adenoid Hynkel (Chaplin), the ruthless leader of Tomainia, a barely-veiled satire of Adolph Hitler who in the years since World War I has set his sights on world domination, while mercilessly oppressing his own Jewish citizens at home. In fact, his most recent campaign incites violence against the Jews as a means to distract the populace from their real problems.
Released as it was in 1940, The Great Dictator was shockingly political at a time when movies, particularly comedies, were perceived more as light entertainment. Chaplin plays a second role as an amnesiac Jewish veteran who tries to return to his old life as a barber in the ghetto, but fate has other plans for him. The barber is a dead ringer for the dictator, although not until well into the third act does this fact become relevant.
In all honesty, I found the movie--at over two hours--to go on a bit long and become a bit preachy, while the ending is neither sentimental nor funny, a departure for writer/director Chaplin. But there's no denying its profound historical significance, publicly and effectively challenging Hitler during the fearful era of World War II.
The Picture
The new 2K high-definition video master, created from two different 35mm film elements, maintains the correct 4:3 aspect ratio with vertical black bars left and right. The blacks in the black-and-white image are inky and natural, while the overall quality is almost pristine. Fine detail is revealed, in the environments more than the costumes, while the more egregious film damage has been reduced and minor instances removed altogether as part of the cleanup. Noise and film grain are modest. This disc is an extremely enjoyable upgrade.
The Sound
The Great Dictator stood as Chaplin's first all-talkie (synchronized dialogue throughout the entire film) and provided a smooth transition to "modern" cinema for the silent era star. The Linear PCM mono audio here has been restored from the original mono film soundtrack and is extremely clean and readily legible, with a pleasing balance of the music and effects. Gunshots and explosions in the war sequences soon sound a tad redundant, as they are probably stock recordings, and of course big procession and assembly scenes are in no way sonically engrossing. But as a representation of the classic track, this is likely the best quality ever.
The Extras
A new audio commentary is provided by performer/author Dan Kamin and silent film historian Hooman Mehran. Other highlights include a pair of visual essays, one about Chaplin's unproduced Napoleon Bonaparte project (known as "N") and how it evolved into The Great Dictator (19 minutes), the other all about the movie at hand (21 minutes).
King, Queen, Joker is a 1921 short starring half-brother Sydney Chaplin, newly edited from the only known elements, presented for its bearing on The Great Dictator. In fact, there's also a roughly-two-minute feature, "Two Shaves," that intercuts scenes from the two films, further highlighting their similarities.
Additional bonus content is ported from the 2003 DVD, although everything here is presented in some flavor or another of "HD." Sydney Chaplin's color behind-the-scenes footage is reassembled in its entirety (27 minutes), and we might just marvel at the colorful costumes destined to be seen on the big screen only in black-and-white. A barber shop scene--one of Chaplin's favorite settings--shot but not used for 1919's Sunnyside is archived here (eight minutes), along with "The Tramp and the Dictator," the outstanding 55-minute documentary narrated by Kenneth Branagh that parallels the lives of Chaplin and Adolph Hitler.
Final Thoughts
A curious but undoubtedly effective application of Chaplin's slapstick humor and sight gags to some of the heaviest subject matter imaginable, The Great Dictator endures as entertainment, education, and one of the most important films of the 1940s. Kudos to Criterion for restoring it so ably, and combining new extras and old for a comprehensive package.
Product Details
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