The interaction of historical perspective and appreciation of foresight have always struck me.
As a non-political, personal example, I happen to like (all right, love..) cars, especially older models. Their appeal, in terms of design/mechanical evolution - as determined subjectively by myself - varies with every single one.
I often attempt to imagine what the world was like, automotively speaking, when a particular model was introduced. To hit you right between the eyes for demonstration - take a Jaguar E-Type, which is familiar even to most non-car enthusiasts.
Seeing one driving around today and to appreciate its elongated shape and beautifully sculpted form is certainly noteworthy. But, to consider having come across one, never before having seen a car that looked even remotely as sensual - as someone in the year 1961 would - evokes another magnitude of praise entirely.
That a particular model is deemed a classic speaks to the timeliness of the design, made possible by both the anticipatory sensitivity of, and an ability to eschew short-lived styling fads by, its designer(s).
Cinematically speaking, tonight I saw "The Great Dictator" for the first time - and was left awestruck at the relevance of its director's 70 year old political message.
If it's been some time since you saw the "Great Dictator", I'd highly recommend seeing it again, soon. Or, minimally, the last 7 minutes of it, which is shocking in its contemporary application.
For those who have not seen it, I'll give you one line from its Wiki:
"[..] the first major feature film of its period to bitterly satirize Nazism and Adolf Hitler"
How's that for a teaser? I had never seen the movie. Chaplin didn't particularly resonate with me, though I thought Modern Times hit the nail on the head. But mostly, the camera work and scenes just date the whole production a little bit out of my aesthetic comfort zone.
However, with the advent of a subscription to Netflix, and a renting scheme that fits, my wife and I have burned through somewhere around 300 titles in 2 years. In doing so, some titles that have been on the edges of our minds to see, for literally decades, have revealed themselves to be true gems.
Well, tonight's feature left my wife and I, literally, staring, transfixed at the conclusion - a rare event for sure.
The best approach, obviously, is to watch the entire movie, allowing the ending to organically develop, ensuring maximum satisfaction and effect.
If you think you'd enjoy seeing the movie, you should probably stop reading at this paragraph. I'll close by saying I was humbled by Chaplin's foresight, mastery of media and his expression of humanity. His concerns, as raised in 1940, nail the current issues of 2010 right to the wall. Unbelievable.
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For those with time constraints or an insensitive Spoiler meter, I will provide the following:
The finale caught me as off-guard as anything I've ever seen. If this take on potential world mis-direction and suffering from 1940 doesn't send shivers down your spine and create a lump in your throat today, you probably lack a pulse. Prescient doesn't cover it. Substitute the words "corporate/financial" for "mechanical", "internet" for "radio", "oligarchs' politicians" for "dictators" and the speech could be delivered on MSNBC this evening.
Spoiler Alert begins here:
The barber of the ghetto, an identical visual twin to the Dictator, has been imprisoned after much persecution. He escapes with a friend from captivity, both dressed as military officers, but the barber is mistaken for the actual Dictator, who, while duck-hunting in a small boat, fell overboard, and was "re-captured" by prison guards as he returned to shore, as the assumed escapee.
The barber and his fellow prisoner, are escorted to a podium by the Dictator's cronies, to address the assembled population of a country recently annexed by the ever expanding military forces (mirroring Germany's advance into Austria, foreshadowing WWII). The cronies obviously are expecting a victory speech. Previously, we have witnessed several speeches of the real Dictator, given in gibberish/quasi-German, and minimally translated in an English voice-over, mostly filled with rambling, banal pronunciations of national pride.
I'm curious if others agree that the prophetic nature of the concerns raised is stunning. Or, to look at it another way, I suppose we've advanced very little.
The Great Dictator - final speech