The Role of Hitler with the Humorous Notion of the Film - Assignment Example

To Be or Not To Be & The Great Dictator To Be or Not To Be dwells on the widespread theme of the Second World War during a period when the United States had just gone into war (Eyman 2). Even though, the producers in Hollywood, particularly those like Ernst Lubitsch from Germany, required people to support Europeans during the war, Lubitsch declined to make To Be or Not To Be a preachy movie. Rather, we witness hilarious actors who fight and still love together. When Maria Tura and her husband become overly angry at one another, we still cannot help, but laugh (Hake 18). The Great Dictator, on the other hand, is a loosely veiled film on Hitlers authoritarianism of Germany (National Film Theatre 10). As most of the world, particularly the U.S., was trying to overlook the threat posed by the Germans and the discrimination of the Jews, Charlie Chaplin and the rest of the actors spoke up loudly against the discrimination in a humorous way (Maland 34). What makes these two films similar is the fact that they were both comedies that used humor to uncover and condemn the faults in the German political system. This paper will analyze two scene from each film and compare them to the other in aspects of their narrative structure (themes, characters and acting) and cinematography. To Be or Not To Be Scene 1 On the second scene of the film, we observe the main actors of the last show, Joseph and Maria Tura, now acting in Hamlet. The two chat, and Joseph tries to convince Maria that he truly loves and adores her (Eyman 2). When he enters her room, he becomes overly jealous when he realizes that she has gotten flowers from a secret admirer for the third day in a row. After Joseph leaves the room, Maria informs her maid that she is sure they are from the attractive aviator, but reassures the maid that she too loves her husband, but he becomes offended by such small things. From this scene, we can see that Marias attitude appears to be that of a careless female who enjoys taunting men and making her spouse overly jealous. She appears to have few good motivations in life other than to be admired and loved (Eyman 2). Even as the movie continues, we observe that Maria only grows and matures when her country is in danger. Joseph, on the other hand, acts like a silly, haughty man when we initially see him. They have numerous passionate, but childish, arguments with Maria as they act, which makes us unsure of their matrimonial. Joseph becomes overly jealous and angry after and instead of acting like a gentleman, he turns into a raving lunatic for a while (Eyman 3). The central theme in this scene is that trust is relative. Trust is one of the most significant elements of any human bond. We see that trust is relative. When managing evil people and spies, one has to be careful concerning who they trust (Hill 51). Joseph and Maria, plus even their house maid, are all the time trying to distinguish who is trustworthy. Like for instance, in this scene, we see that Joseph and Maria have hard times trusting each other in their own relationship. Joseph is demanding and arrogant while Maria is overly flirtatious with other men. Even though, they ultimately work through their issue, Stanislav forever remains a problem. When it comes to the cinematography of the scene, To Be or Not To Be rather assumes a humorous look at what happened in Poland during the Second World War. The scene also shows a unsophisticated solution for rectifying the political issues as civilians rebelled the Nazis (Eyman 5). A lot of people in the United States and from around the globe were tired as they continually got bad news from Poland. This scene helps spur individuals to action whereas narrating its tale with a cheerful air. In addition, the relationship between Joseph, Maria, and Stanislav, a third party, is humorous as Stanislav leaves during Josephs greatest speech and Joseph becomes overly jealous (Eyman 5). Scene 2 There is another a scene where Stanislav tells some of the military leaders that he thinks that Siletsky is concealing his true identity (Hill 58). He believes that because Siletsky did not discern who Maria was, he has to be lying because she well know by everyone in Warsaw. The leaders inform him that he should not be worried, but they themselves are worried that he informed the men where he was headed to (Hill 58). They are stunned that he took the names because they could reach Gestapo simply. The men talk about how Warsaw could be ruined if Siletsky is a traitor. They ask Stanislav to set off to Warsaw to he can warn mostly the underground. From this scene, we see Stanislav as a brave man who cherishes his nation. He endangers his own life to battle with the R.A.F. in order for Poland to be set free from Hitlers ruling in the future. He battles in a foreign land, and he is the only individual amongst his colleagues to discern that Siletsky is a traitor (Bordwell 31). Stanislav courageously parachutes into Poland to warn Maria and the rest of the impending danger. He bravely finds their residence and shelters there till he can talk to Joseph and Maria. Stanislavs bravery saves a lot of lives including those of the individuals he cherishes the most (Hill 64). The theme that clearly comes out in this scene is that you need to stand up for what you believe. Stanislav faces the option between defending his beloved nation or listening to those who attempt to induce him to do the opposite (Bordwell 34). After he chats with Siletsky, he realizes that if he does not recognize Maria, then he is surely not from their country. Stanislav reports this to his superiors as a possible spy, but they initially overlook his warnings. After they come to their senses, Stanislav courageously offers to return to his country to warn the persons in Warsaw. Stanislavs heroism saves a lot of lives (Hill 64). The cinematography in this scene turns from humor to seriousness then back to humor to keep up with the humorous notion of the film as people realize that lives are at stake (Bergfelder 19). Siletsky returns to Poland to gather together the families of the men who fight for the R.A.F. as soldiers. Nevertheless, once Stanislav lands to warn the rest, the humor starts again. We observe as Joseph carries on with his grand acts, first as Siletsky and then as Colonel Ehrhardt (Bergfelder 19). When another actor assumes the role of Hitler, the laughs and ridiculous stunts form a funny scene where a lot of live are saved from death. The Great Dictator Scene 1 The movie starts during a battle of the First World War. The leading character is a nameless Jewish soldier (Charlie Chaplin), a barber, who fights for the Central Powers in the military of the illusory country of Tomainia (a reference to ptomaine poisoning), laughably lumbering through the trenches in a territory of combat fields (Brownlow 14). After hearing an exhausted pilot crying out for assistance, the private bravely tries to rescue the worn out officer, and one commander Schultz, they board Schultzs airplane and escape enemy fire just in the nick of time. Commander Schultz discloses that he has significant information, which could help them win the war. Nevertheless, the plane rapidly crashes because of lack or fuel, but the two survived. Both Schultz and the unnamed private survive (Brownlow 14). The unnamed Jewish soldier is depicted as the hero of the scene due to his acts, saving one of his colleagues in a battlefront. The unnamed Jewish soldier shows compassion, love and humanity to others as he chose not to let the pilot he save to die in the battlefront. He is also liberal in a way as he asks his colleagues to go against their leaders, “aberrant brutes” and to fight for freedom and liberty (Maland 67). The theme of love and care is clear in this scene. The unnamed Jewish soldier had love for his colleagues that is why he chose to save them in battle, he also spoke passionately for the love his nation. He was a mere barber but managed to learn how to fight in a battlefield and stood for his country in battle (Brownlow 16). Finally, when it comes to the cinematography of the scene, and basically the entire film, it employs silence acting, where the actors only use actions rather than words to pass the message of the film (Maland 67). We can see in these scene as the pilot was showing signs of needing help, Chaplin nodded his head up quickly and rushed to the rescue. Scene 2 The second scene of the film cuts to victory revels, newspaper headlines, the rescue and hospitalization of the unnamed solider, as well as to a speech given two decades later by Adenoid Hynkel (Adolf Hitler, played by Chaplin, as well), now the cruel dictator of Tomainia, who has assumed a role of persecuting the Jews in the land, supported by the Interior Minister Garbitsch and the War Herring Minister (Hill 23). The sign of Hynkels fascist government is the "double cross" in addition to Hynkel himself discloses a dramatic, macaronic satire of the German language, translated at humorously noticeable areas in the speech by an excessively brief English-speaking news commentary. In this scene, Hynkel is depicted as an authoritarian. He has people following all his commands. He bribes the translators when he gives the speech in the scene and he continues for almost five minutes in an unnatural tone, but all the translator claims is our brilliance has only said a few lines on the Jews (Bill 78). He attempts to be admired, and thus he kisses a child. Nevertheless, he reveals his true character when he places the child down and wipes himself off as if dismayed by the child. He is depicted in a comic manner, for instance in his fall when coming down the staircase following his speech also when his is playing with the globe. He is also depicted as being childlike when the globe blasts he runs off and sulks (Bill 78). The theme of dictatorship is also widespread in this scene. We can see how Hitler forcefully uses the reporters for his own gain and have his way in almost everything. Chaplin tried to ease this tension with the humorous acts making the audience laugh and stop thinking about Hitlers dictatorship acts. When it comes to the style or cinematography, the comic element is still a dominating component in the scene. Chaplin condemns Nazism with a soft touch (Bernink 14). For instance, he profoundly delivers many insults and abuses to the Jews, which are simply translated as: our excellence has only said some few phrases about the Jews. Charles Chaplin has put in the film many allusions to the events of the Nazis (Stam 82). We see the famous concentration camps, Gestapo, authority provoked by Hitler and the assault of Austria. In fact, this film is a clear representation of the reality of the 40s, during the World War II. Tomania represents Germany, Adénoïde Hynkel represents Adolf Hitlers caricature and Benzino Napoloni represents Benito Mussolini. Works Cited Bergfelder, Tim, Carter, Erica and Göktürk, Deniz. The German Cinema Book. London: BFI Publishing, 2002. Print. Bernink, Meike. The Cinema Book. London: British Film Institute, 2006. Print. Bill, Nichols. Movies and Methods: Vol. II: An Anthology. Print. California: University of California Press, 2009. Print. Bordwell, David and Thompson, Kristin. Film Art: An Introduction. New York: Mcgraw-Hill College, 2003. Print. Brownlow, Kevin. The Tramp and the Dictator. London: National Film Theatre, 2002. Print. Eyman, Scott. Ernst Lubitsch: Laughter in Paradise. Baltimore, Maryland: JHU Press, 2000. Print. Hake, Sabine. Passions and Deceptions: The Early Films of Ernst Lubitsch. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1992. Print. Hill, John. The Oxford Guide to Film Studies. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print. Maland, Charles J. Chaplin and American Culture: The Evolution of a Star Image. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2001. Print. National Film Theatre. National Film Theatre/British Film Institute notes on The Great Dictator. London: National Film Theatre, 2008. Print. Stam, Robert. Film Theory: An Introduction. New York: Wiley-Blackwell, 2000. Print. Stam, Robert. New Vocabularies in Film Semiotics. London: Routledge, 2006. Print. Read More