Pioneering Talkie Expression in Chaplin\u27s The Great Dictator

The talking film debuted in 1927, succeeding the silent film. Influenced by requests from theater operators, many directors began producing talking films. However, for Chaplin, who had already established an original style of expression in silent film, sound was superfluous. At last, Chaplin produced The Great Dictator as a full talking film in 1940. The Great Dictator was the result of continuous exploration of expressions unique to talking film, for over a decade. Its sound effects are replete with originality and ingenuity. In this paper, the sound effects unique to The Great Dictator are clarified by analysis as follows: (1) By hiding the sound source, it can be arbitrarily moved around spatially and temporally. (2) Sound can present to the vieweres a reality that is different from the reality in the film. (3) It is possible to convey messages with multiple meanings by making the type and the location of the sound source vague