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Zelensky Invokes ‘The Great Dictator’ in Cannes Speech: ‘The World Needs a New Chaplin’
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky made a special appearance during Cannes’ opening night.Zelensky gave an impassioned speech about the responsibility of filmmaking in the midst of war via a live video call from Kyiv. Zelensky, who was a satirical actor and the voice of “Paddington” before being elected president, cited Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” among […]
Continue readingManeskin Covers Britney Spears, Iggy Pop and Charlie Chaplin at Coachella
The Italian band Måneskin made its name in the U.S. with a crafty cover, of the Four Seasons’ “Beggin,’” and there were more where that came from during the band’s set Sunday night at Coachella: The group went to both ends of the pop/punk scale and memorably covered Britney Spears’ “Womanizer,” followed by Iggy Pop […]
Continue readingLockdown watch: Mark Cousins on why he’s only seeing films from 1940
In the first of a series in which film-makers reveal their self-isolation viewing habits, the documentarian on batty curios and rare gems from 80 years agoFor absolutely no good reason, I’ve decide that the theme of my quarantine should be the number 40. To pretend to keep fit, I’ve been doing 40 sit-ups and 40 […]
Continue readingJojo Rabbit review – down the rabbit hole with Hitler
Taika Waititi follows a distinguished tradition with this ‘strange art comedy’ about a boy growing up in Nazi Germany, but fails to cut to the dark heart of the matterSince the days of Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, film-makers have adopted naive or comedic perspectives to pierce and deflate the hideous bubble of Nazi ideology – […]
Continue readingToronto Film Review: ‘Jojo Rabbit’
Long ago, turning Nazi Germany into a joke was verboten. Or, at least, it seems like it was; it’s actually hard to imagine a time when that was the case. Charlie Chaplin made Hitler into a figure of ridicule in “The Great Dictator,” released in 1940. I grew up watching “Hogan’s Heroes,” which portrayed life […]
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