Photo/Illutration Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears remotely during the opening ceremony of the 75th international Cannes Film Festival, southern France, on May 17. (Photo by Invision/ AP)

In the fictitious nation of Tomainia, its dictatorial ruler, Adenoid Hynkel, is in his palace fiddling with a supersize balloon that mimics a globe. His face is rapturous.

Charlie Chaplin's (1889-1977) "The Great Dictator," a 1940 satirical comedy-drama film, depicts the madness of a man consumed with his ambition of world domination.

Chaplin plays Hynkel, who is evocative of Adolf Hitler, as well as the Jewish barber who is a dead ringer for Hynkel. The iconic British comedian was born in the same year as Hitler. In the film, Chaplin spoofed and imitated Hitler to perfection, even down to the shape of his trademark mustache.

Filming began in the autumn of 1939, just eight days after Nazi Germany invaded neighboring Poland.

At the time, Hitler was praised in many countries as a leader who pulled his nation out of the Great Depression, according to "Chaplin," a critical biography authored by playwright Hiroyuki Ono. Chaplin was said to have been swamped with letters urging him to drop the project.

But the film was released in the United States in 1940 and became a megahit.

"We need a new Chaplin," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who made a virtual appearance at the opening ceremony of this year's Cannes Film Festival on May 17. Referring to "The Great Dictator," Zelenskyy implored the audience to heed the words from this 1940 film.

I watched it again for the first time in decades.

Toward the end of the story, Tomainian forces invade the neighboring country of Osterlich and capture its capital. By a strange twist of fate, the barber ends up impersonating Hynkel and delivering an address before a crowd.

"The hate of men will pass and dictators die," he says. "Soldiers, don't give yourselves to brutes. ... You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men!"

The film should be called an immortal masterpiece, and the same applies to this superb speech, too.

I wish there were some way to convey these words to young soldiers who have been sent to the front lines of the war without cause in Ukraine.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 19

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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