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The Great Movies: Dr. Strangelove
by Eric (movies profile)
Sep 7, 2007
4
of
4 people found this review helpful
There are thousands of reasons we laugh. Amusement is usually the first and most common reason. But we also laugh because we remember things long passed, because we see something no one else see, and even for no reason whatsoever. But sometimes, we laugh because if we didn't, we'd have to scream. Dr. Strangelove is no doubt a slap-stick comedy, but carries the burdens of the everyday fear of living in a world that could come crashing down on our heads at any given moment.
Taken from a straight-laced novel about a possible end-of-the-world situation during the Cold War, Stanley Kubrick realized that he had the perfect material for satire. What other situation could you be able to comment on politics, sex, science, the military, as well as armageddon itself? To do this with loose comedy would also be a wrong move. To make people understand the obsurdity of the nature of a cold war, we had to believe that this situation could in fact happen. Although I doubt that the military would ever promote any man by the name of Jack T. Ripper to general.
When Gen. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) goes over Washington's head to start a major bombing campaign in the Soviet Union, he uses the bureaucrat's own doctrines against them, giving himself complete control of the military. He intends to leave the President no choice but to follow through. But President Muffley (Peter Sellers) doesn't want to do that. He gathers his military advisors into the infamous War Room (I still love that set with it's oversized monitors) to set up their strategy (note: a subtle bit of satire, the round table that is used is hollow in the center). One said advisor is General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott), who is getting calls from his mistress (and secretary) while advising the President. The comedy in these scenes come from the obsurdity of politics in times of crisis. My favorite scene in the movie deals with the President speaking to Premier Kissoff. You only hear the president's side of the conversation as he tries to explain that one of his generals did "kind of a silly thing". Scott's performance is solid gold as when he explains just how his bombers will be able to penetrate the Soviet defenses, then realizes that his zeal isn't shared.
Up in the air above Russia is a B-52 that holds the fate of the world in its hand. Piloted by Capt. T.J. "King" Kong (Slim Pickens), they fly behind enemy lines to their target. This part of the film is played almost entirely straight, like the kinds of war films of that time. The real comedy is mostly verbal as Kong uses a lot of Texanisms. I love the bit about the survival kits providing for a fun time in Vegas.
And then there's General Ripper and the foreign exchange officer from the RAF Group Capt. Mandrake (Sellers in the second of three roles). Mandrake learns of Ripper's scheme early on tries to get Ripper to yield before it's too late. Instead, he gets to see the general for what he really is: barking mad.The comedy involved here really stems from the contrast from Ripper's arrogance and Mandrake's manners towards a man he's quite sure is loony. And then there's Major "Bat" Guano (Keenan Wynn) and that Coke Machine.
So who is Dr. Strangelove? When he shows up in the last act of the film, there's no set-up. But then the Strangeloves of the world never seem to be introduced, they just arrive. The little German in the wheelchair and the possessed right arm (which is bold enough on its own to try to strangle it's host). Dr. Strangelove is the anti-deus-ex-machima. So why is his name in the title? Just because. Strangelove (Sellers, one more time), like the rest of the film, happens just because it does. Does having a reason change the matter that things happen?
When it comes down to it, this film really works because it understands futility. The concept of war is futile and short-term in the long run. These characters are futile in their desperate attempts to change things that perhaps were never meant to be changed. We laugh because we know that the fiction isn't too far from the truth.
I haven't been much of a fan of Stanley Kubrick, but this film is not stiff like most of his fare. But the one thing I love about his work is how he takes snapshots of moments and place it on film. I've never forgotten Dave's jog on the walls of the spaceship in 2001 or the stroll around the rooms of the Overlook on a tricycle in The Shining. But it is in Dr. Strangelove that he pit all of his skill in this film. From the War Room to Kong's infamous last ride, we see Kubrick's vision and how he's able to make it our own.
The Cold War may be over, but now we face an even more dangerous threat in terrorism. With the world seeming to come down on itself and the stakes growing even larger, the film is still fresh. I just wonder will another filmmaker come along and make us laugh at our own fears again? |
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