The Great Dictator

Movie Information

In Brief:  As Mark Twain may or may not have said: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Given the resurgence of fascism across the globe, and considering the strained and divisive political climate here in the States, The Asheville Film Society has partnered with the Fine Arts Theatre to lighten things up a bit (but not too much) with a special screening of Charles Chaplin’s 1940 masterwork, The Great Dictator. Join us for this one-time big-screen showing on Thursday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m. — just in time for midterm elections! Chaplin’s savage satirical vivisection of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime stands as not only the filmmaker’s most overtly political work but also perhaps his most significant. It could be argued that The Great Dictator is not Chaplin’s funniest film, but it was never intended to be. Instead, Chaplin sought to undermine the man who stole his mustache through some of the most incisive social criticism ever committed to celluloid, and the result is a film that has an almost preternatural resonance to this day. And it is absolutely hilarious — if you can get past the underlying tragedy of the subject matter, that is.
Score:

Genre: Comedy
Director: Charles Chaplin
Starring: Charles Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Jack Oakie, Henry Daniell, Reginald Gardiner, Billy Gilbert
Rated: G

The Asheville Film Society presents a special screening of The Great Dictator at The Fine Arts Theatre on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m., hosted by Xpress movie critic Scott Douglas. All tickets $7.

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