Specific examples of how Chaplin satire works can be seen in his manner of speech and exaggerated movements and actions. There are many instances in which Chaplin slipped and fell as both the barber and Hynkel. I think it's satirical in nature for Chaplin to pose as both a Jew and the dictator who was prosecuting Jewish people. The satire was heightened when both of them displayed similar clumsiness and countenance. The way Chaplin portrayed Hitler was comical: bulging eyes, forceful hand gestures, loud and crazed screams that would end in coughs and splutters. Hynkel in the film was irascible, clumsy, and ridiculous in the way he would break out dancing with a balloon and climb up the curtains. It could be seen Chaplin’s attempt to ridicule Hitler’s rigidity and unnaturalness, mentally and psychically. The made-up language, Tomanian, felt like it’s Chaplin’s attempt to mock the German language as well. It’s also interesting to note that he gave the Nazis and its allies hilarious names to make a parody out of their real-life characters. For example, Dictator of Bacteria, Phooey, and Garbitsch (is it just me or this sounds like garbage?). I noticed that Chaplin uses symmetrical shots for the barber and Hynkel to keep the audience trained on his performance. Symmetrical shots apparently break the common rule of thirds for camera framing, and most artists use this technique to “direct the viewer’s eye to a specific place.” The intention of these shots in The Great Dictator becomes clear: Chaplin wants us to devote our full attention to Hynkel. One prominent example of a symmetrical shot can be seen in the first appearance of Hynkel when he was delivering a speech with his subordinates sitting in the background. You have the microphones on either side of him, and he’s standing directly in the middle of the shot, demanding your attention. Another thing I noticed in the film was the way all faces were turned towards Hynkel whenever he was in a frame. Only Hynkel's face would be visible, and his subordinates would always have their backs turned to the camera and facing him. I believe this was an effective way of leaving the audience no choice but to focus on Hynkel because literally everyone in the shot has their eyes trained on him as well. The feast where Hynkel announced the invasion of Osterlich was not just a perfectly symmetrical shot, we were also shown that everyone at the table had their bodies turned and eyes fixed solely on him. Also, Chaplin’s makeup (which makes him look so pale!), mustache, and wardrobe made it difficult for anyone to miss him in a shot.
Two images stood out to me in Meshes of the Afternoon: the robed woman whose face has been replaced by a mirror and the face of the woman shown dead on the couch. I was shocked by the latter image because most of the films in that era would dare to include such a shot in fear of violation of the hays code. Usually the audience would only see or hear the suggestion of murder in the form of gunshots and But the directors of this clearly didn’t care. We could even see the suggested murder weapon manifesting in the form of broken glasses laying on her chest. It’s the close-up shot of her soulless eyes and the connotations of a possible suicide that convinced me that the directors didn’t care about the hays code at all. The mirror-faced woman invoked in me an ominous feeling as if the woman was hallucinating her own self but she wasn’t aware of it. One filming technique that struck me as unfamiliar among the movies I’ve seen until now for this class was the documentary style in which this film was shot. The camera was kind of shaky as it went panning around the room before settling on the dining table with the bread and knife. As we crept closer to the table, the shakiness of the images suggested that someone might be walking towards it while holding the filming device with an unsteady hand. They could’ve very well zoomed in with the camera staying still, but they didn’t. This kind of documentary-style is often used in horror movies (As Above So Below, The Blair Witch Project), which I think is the genre this film is trying to subtly embody. Besides that, the spinning of the camera can be found in various parts of the movie. One prominent instance was when the woman seemed to have lost her balance and was floating above the staircase. The tilting and spinning of the camera, to me, suggested the deconstruction of reality and order. Coupled with the repetition of the scene where the woman was chasing the mirror-faced woman, these techniques reminded me very much of the movie Inception, which was also a movie that toes the line between dreams and reality. These techniques used in Meshes of the Afternoon seemed to denote a sense of discomfort and uneasiness.
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