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Satire at its finest
by Paul (movies profile)
Apr 12, 2008
6
of
6 people found this review helpful
The first time I saw Dr. Strangelove, there was something about George C. Scott's performance that made me laugh, and for some reason, I didn't know what he was doing until second time I saw the film. Scott decided to tremendously overract, with his face and body movements, with his eyebrow twitches, eye movement, face movement, voice usage, gum chewing, and everything else he does in order to act out every word he says. He proves that overracting is great for comedy, and I was laughing at him, his performance are hidden even though it is so obvious that we are aware of it.
The film contains three of the best comedic performances ever portrayed on film. First, there's Scott playing Buck, and then there's Sterling Hayden playing Gen. Jack Ripper who has exceeded his authority (though Buck wouldn't commit to this until all of the facts are in) and ordered 34 B-52 fighter planes to drop their bombs on Russia. Hayden's reasons for dropping the bomb is comedic, and his deadpan delivery is even better, imagine him (Hayden played the crooked cop in The Godfather) saying this line is perfect deadpan delivery:
"I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."
Perfect. The third performance comes from Peter Sellers, playing three different characters, President Murkin Muffley, who holds a meeting in the war room, one of the most memorable sets in the movies, containing a circular table, maps of Russia, America, and the world on one of the walls, and many, many lights. The reason why the war room is so memorable is that it's in black and white, and having the whole movie in color would have completely ruined the tone, appearing as a suspense cold war film, but instead a black comedy political satire. One of the many great choices made by director Stanley Kubrick.
Sellers also plays Group Captain Lional Mandrake, who is locked in Gen. Ripper's office and Mandrake is begging him to give him the recall code, which is the only way to stop the planes from attacking Russia, and the only person that knows it is Ripper. Though there is another reason why the planes must be recalled, and Mandrake isn't aware of, it is to prevent the end of civilization. The Russian's have built a Doomsday machine which will trigger if Russia is attacked by nuclear weapons. When triggered, it will bring an end to all human civilization. The President learns this information during the phone call in which he informs a drunken Russian premier that America has accidentally attacked Russia.
Seller's third performance is Dr. Strangelove, an ex-Nazi who informs the President on how the doomsday machine could work. Strangelove is an interesting character. He is in a wheelchair and suffers from agonistic apraxia, or also known as alien hand syndrome), and is constantly giving the Nazi salute involuntarily. He is often lurking in the shadows, and he is excited that the world is going to end, just so he can have a world with the ratio of women to men is 10:1.
Stanley Kubrick is probably the most loved/hated filmmaker amongst filmgoers, and I think it is because how strange his movies are and how he tells his stories. Now, Dr. Strangelove isn't as strange as 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, or Eyes Wide Shut, but even though he has only made two masterpieces (that I have seen), telling the story in such a strange way is the only way of telling certain stories.
Kubrick was a perfectionist who does many, many, many takes of the same shot in order to get it perfect, he even holds the record for most takes of one shot in the movie Eyes Wide Shut, and he does many things that are perfect. Such as making this film in black and white, which now looks better than ever on DVD. He also stuck satire only. The original ending of Dr. Strangelove only exists in still photographs, and it was going to end by everyone in the war room getting in a custard pie fight, and it was a very good choice that he didn't keep that ending, because that isn't satire, that is just plain screwball, and the ending of Dr. Strangelove is perfect the way it is now.
Kubrick wrote this film also, along with Terry Southern, based on the novel Red Alert by Peter George, which is a thriller about the cold war. It was a genius for Kubrick and Southern to write this as a comedy. There was another cold war film that was released around the same time as Dr. Strangelove which was a thriller, and it was called Fail Safe, now which film is now considered a masterpiece? Dr. Strangelove, because it hasn't dated one bit and it's fresh as it was when it was first released, and of course, it got its message out much easier because it was a comedy. And the script itself is genius, filled with a lot of memorable dialogue ("You can't fight in here, this is the war room!") and still wows audiences today.
What makes this film so funny is that it is not a bunch of characters "joking" around, it is people who are trying their best to be serious but aren't. All you really have to do is put yourself in this situation, and you'll see why this is funny because of what they say and do.
Why has this film not dated at all. Well, it's because all films being in black and white have a better chance of not becoming dated. Also, many of us have not been to what the sets are, the war room (it doesn't exist, we are told), a fighter plane about to drop bombs, or even an army general's office, which only consists of a desk and some furniture. Just one of the many reasons black and white is better than color.
The first time I saw Dr. Strangelove, I was completely blown away. I was laughing at its humor and its perfect comedic performances, its close attention to detail, how well it told its story, and just watching Kubrick at the top of his form. What brings be back to Dr. Strangelove is because everytime I see this, its like the first time I watched it. I always laugh at the same jokes, sometimes even more because I notice new things every time I watch any great film. Only a genius like Kubrick could turn a war film and turn it into one of the finest comedies ever made.
Dr. Strangelove contains many of Kubricks themes and trademarks: Dehumanization, usage of the number 114 (name of the decoder), an important bathroom scene, close-ups (allowing us to notice Scott's face movements easier, and makes it more funny), narration, three-way conflicts (USA vs. Russia vs. Ripper), never using rolling opening credits (except for in The Shining), war, and he also made some exceptions, like letting Peter Sellers improvise, which the dialogue was later written in the script. He took nearly all control over his movies, writing, directing, and producing them. He was obsessive with his work (he read 50 books about nuclear war for this film), and is now considered one of the greatest directors. Plus, who would want to watch Slim Pickens riding a bomb like a mechanical bull that would cause the end of civilization? |
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