"There is enough land in this world for all of us to survive." - Charlie the Tramp
"It would be a disaster for the planet if more than a billion Chinese were allowed to live in the United States." - Olympian Sea
When I finished reading "The Savage Continent," I re-watched this Chaplin movie. I think Chaplin, who was a Jew, did feel some kind of outburst of malice when Americans didn't yet understand what was going on in Europe, and he tried in a comedy for all the victims - Jewish refugees, consciences , the people at the bottom - making a little noise, he may have realized that the source of malice is not the creation of a dictator, just like on that slightly depressed street, Charlie faced a group of stormtroopers alone.
Europe is not only anti-Semitic, but the rise of nationalism, the intensification of class contradictions, and the tit-for-tat confrontation between the doctrines are all the reasons for turning Europe into ruins and killing each other on top of the ruins. When European and American countries have spent decades promoting World War II as a binary war, shaping a united Europe, this film, which will feature Hitler, Mussolini and other dictators Movies that become clowns will naturally be praised. Yet I wonder if it's too easy to blame the final speech for the movie's box-office failure, and its immature vocal expression for the general audience's dislike of it.
Europe is not united, and in this 2020 pandemic period, that's enough to show. However, all of this is just strong evidence. When we look back at the expulsion of Germans, Jews, and even domestic minorities in various countries at the end of World War II, we will understand that a diverse Europe has long been one. Disappeared during the war, leaving behind a fragmented nation-state. However, this is also a judgment like "Zhuge Liang after the fact". It is a simple judgment that we can make after more than half a century after the emergence of countless real phenomena and the research results of scholars. At that time, Chaplin could not see it. arrive. He may have sensed the danger of the Jewish nation by virtue of the blood he bred, so he called for tolerance in the name of freedom.
He created a mix of German and English gibberish to make "Hitler" speak, why? Dodge scrutiny? To put it another way, maybe even if he were allowed to put dictator speeches into the movie, he wouldn't do it, because that's what the people like to hear. Just like Trump's speech, so many pranksters in Europe and America make fun of him as much as possible, but they won't let their actors perform the speech again, because no one is laughing, because that is some people want to hear.
To put all the blame on one person is both childish and evasive.
“Jews of all nationalities will find that the end of German rule does not mean the end of persecution. . The violence was staged everywhere, even in areas that were never occupied, such as Britain. In some parts of Europe, the violence was final and decisive: it was to wipe out the Jewish community forever, something the Nazis could not do Things will be done by the local people." - "Savage Continent" P218
"Hitler" in the movie is such a naive and ridiculous character, naive means that he wants to do everything and sells with a hammer; it is ridiculous that he is a dwarf, but he portrays himself as a giant. What's more interesting is that when we always think of Mussolini's Italy as a fool who is holding back, "Mussolini" in the movie is like a big brother with a big heart, always above "Hitler" . I even can't help but like this countryman who loves face, puts on a show, but opens his arms to "the dictator brother". His appearance is not like a negotiation, but for a party. The image of this guy is more like us. The image of Germany in the impression is even more stupid.
Of course, it's not because of what Chaplin thought it was. The images of these two "idiots" are American-style clowns, just like the heroine Pauline Goldie. That's the aesthetic of the golden age of Hollywood, the clowns of that era. Probably so. So I couldn't help feeling sad for Chaplin. His nation produced Einstein, but at the same time he was expelled from Europe as his homeland. At the end, he gave a speech full of affection and grief on his face, but there was no normal villain as an opponent, so that the audience felt embarrassed that the clown was crying.
What is even more helpless is that what happened after the end of World War II a few years later showed that everything was the choice of the people. They chose to turn a blind eye to the concentration camps miles away, plundered and drove away their neighbors who had lived for hundreds of years, and paid a lot of attention to what they did. All blame on one party and one bigot.
"I came from you, and I am you." - Hitler Returns
Or, a comedy should not have been expected to show all of this, or the speech at the end of the movie should not have appeared, because there are always people in this world who think that the earth can't be the same for everyone life.
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