Diegetic Sound In The Great Dictator

During World War II, many Western media personalities contributed to a widespread sentiment of anger towards the fascist totalitarian regime of Nazi Germany. Specifically, many publications including ones such as George Orwell’s Animal Farm served the purpose of drawing the attention of Western audiences towards the crimes and dangers of totalitarian regimes. In one of Charlie Chaplin’s most famous and critically acclaimed films The Great Dictator, Chaplin mocks Adolf Hitler and his regime with brilliant utilization of some of the key aspects of filmmaking/screenplay. Through these formal elements of film, known as the “Big Four” which includes editing, sound, mise en scène, editing and cinematography, a viewer of The Great Dictator clearly

In terms of diegetic sound, the barber’s own words clearly represent an adept usage of this sound in order to, once again, present his audience with a reiteration of his message regarding the practices of Nazi Germany and other autocratic regimes in existence at the time. On the other hand, a narrator’s voice also plays a major role throughout the novel in terms of explaining events occurring on-screen, and also translating Hynkel’s ‘Tomainian” dialect. At the end of the barber’s passionate speech, he also

Over the course of this semester, many topics and aspects regarding dictators, tyranny, and etc. have been discussed, and one can argue that this film provides a strong, well-delivered message to its audience, and it does a better job of conveying this sort of message than even most of this course’s required books. Through Chaplin’s outstanding use of both the mise en scène and sound elements of film, one can reasonably back these assertions. Chaplin, despite his status as a silent film mastermind, uses both diegetic and non-diegetic sound to clearly convey his message of caution and criticism towards dictators, totalitarian regimes, and specifically Nazi Germany. Through his use of mise en scène, Chaplin also conveys this message with his actors’ facial expressions and body language-related interactions by emphasizing Hynkel’s lack of empathy, even for those so close to him and his beliefs. All in all, through Chaplin’s masterful filmmaking expertise, his audience leaves a screening of The Great Dictator feeling both angry and dumbfounded. The viewers’ dumbfounded feeling stems from their likely lack of attention towards dictatorships such as that of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party, and their feeling of anger stemming from the clear abuses carried out by such regimes on the citizens of the countries they dictate. In essence, Chaplin achieves his goal in