This paper shall focus on Charlie Chaplin in the movie Great Dictator and Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland. One similarity about the two movies is that they are more of stories about two dictators: Idi Amin Dada of Uganda and Adolf Hitler of Germany. Both actors Chaplin and Whitaker take the roles of these dictators. It is also important to note the differences in the time the two movies were produced: Great Dictator was produced in 1940, while The Last King of Scotland was produced in 2006.
In the movie, Charlie Chaplin is acting as Adolf Hitler and unlike in his other movies, he is talking. The movie was set in 1940 and Charlie Chaplin message was to enlighten the world so that they could really understand the evil acts of Adolf Hitler; it was when the atrocities of Adolf Hitler were starting to be known, but still many people in the world at that time were not aware of that. As typical of Charlie Chaplin, the movie has instances of satire as well as a mindset of an authoritarian leader. In the movie, compared to the real Hitler that the world came to know later, Charlie Chaplin happens to be too decent of a person in comparison with Adolf Hitler.
In the movie, Charlie Chaplin attempts to manifest seriousness, as he acts the dictator who is an object of fear and hate in the German society. In the movie, although Hitler was not depicted as a sympathetic person or leader, Charlie Chaplain was not able to depict the true evil as his satire was gentle and the name he took as the dictator was a funny name. To truly depict Hitler, more is needed than what was done by Charlie Chaplin in the movie. Charlie Chaplin due to his physic was able to produce almost a true Hitler, as there are many similarities in size between the two. Chaplin made a huge try in the movie and a huge push to the best of his abilities, and there is a lot of ambition.
The Last King of Scotland is another movie that fascinated me. Although the movie seems to be a biography of Idi Amin, the dictator from Uganda in Africa, it is more about a young doctor who used to treat Idi Amin and the interactions that they had. Forest Whitaker in the movie is more of a supporting character, while James McAvoy seems to be the lead actor. The role of Whitaker in the movie can be considered more fascinating, when compared to the true personality of him. In real life, he is soft spoken, but in the movie, he is harsh and loud. In contrast to Charlie Chaplain as Adolf Hitler, Forest Whitaker does a great job acting as Idi Amin. This is because as an actor he seems to be charismatic individual and to some extent behaves like a mad paranoid man. He depicts this peculiar dictator, who was temperamental and erratic, properly with a style of being “˜bigger than life individual’, and while doing this, he does not go over the top.
He depicts a mad leader, who is corrupted by power and is very paranoid. The use of his facial expressions is very compelling, as he demonstrates a mad leader who always feels that people around him are planning against him. His facial expressions in the movie seem to be extreme yet very effective as well as natural. His actions are those of a charismatic actor. A similarity with Charlie Chaplin is through their great speech, Charlie Chaplin as Adolf Hitler gave a great speech on brotherhood, while Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin always made great speeches to the foreign press, citizens of Uganda as well as to the visiting dignitaries.
Whereas Charlie Chaplin as Adolf Hitler does not smile in the movie, Whitaker in the movie smiles while in the screen, which seems to be odd as he is representing a cruel dictator. The role of Whitaker in the humor and happiness is to demonstrate a dictator who works by manipulating and controlling other people. He deceives others and does let them get to know whom he really is, and does this using a warm smile, humor as well as presence. The role of Charlie Chaplin in the movie is more difficult since there is little knowledge about Adolf Hitler as it was in 1940 and very few people knew about Adolf Hitler. In regards to Forest Whitaker, there exists a lot of information about Idi Amin, as he was very well known as the dictator and the movie was acted in Uganda.
The two actors, Forest Whitaker and Charlie Chaplin, are actors of different times, both talented. Charlie Chaplin in the movie attempts his best based on scarcity of information on the personality as well as his need to inform the world about a dictator. It is also important to note that the movie industry was still developing then. However, Forest Whitaker is more advantaged, due to the modern progress in the film industry as well as prior and better knowledge of the character.