Civil Defense drills were ridiculous when you think about it. A 100 megaton bombs impact is not going to be stopped by your school desk or even the basement of the local hospital. It made you feel good, I guess. In the 1950's and 1960's everyone waited for the day that "the bomb" was dropped and who would drop it first. There really weren't many media outlets satirizing the whole idea of nuclear combat toe to toe with the Ruskies.
The funny thing is that Dr. Strangelove wasn't going to be a satire either, but a straight account of an Air Force general (Sterling Hayden) that goes mad and orders a Strategic Air Command wing to attack their targets in the Soviet Union and the efforts of the military and government to stop it. Soon it became a satire starring Peter Sellers in no less than three roles. You'll notice I'm not calling this a comedy and this is for reason. I can barely call it a satire because I can believe that people actually thought like this in the ivory towers of government. Gen. Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) trusts no commie and sees a silver lining in all of those that is like a light version of Hayden's characters ideas. I tend to believe this film more than a 13 Days.
Peter Sellers does indeed play three characters in this film. The first is Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, a Royal Air Force officer who is assigned to the base that Hayden's character commands. The second is President Merkin Muffley, a standard die cut American politician that seems to be holding together but eventually falls apart. Finally Sellers plays the title character Dr. Strangelove, an ex-Nazi scientist that still tends to have issues over his former boss. Seller is excellent in each of these roles with this film probably being the apex of his career only equaled by a just as great performance in 1978's Being There.
George C. Scott is probably just as in tune with the film as Sellers as Turgidson. Scott plays the general as a caricature, but it doesn't feel like one. His facial expression flow of the celluloid but they're not forced down your throat. Even his mistakes (such as tripping in the war room) are so in character that they become part of the film, which is an achievement considering this is a Kubrick picture.
Since this is a Stanley Kubrick film you can expect near perfection because the man was a perfectionist. Kubrick knows how to frame a face and this becomes quite evident during Sterling Hayden's two monologues. Kubrick shoots Hayden from below giving him an almost god-like quality as he spouts his gospel, adding more to the scene. The long shots of the war room are also magnificent as they show the grand scale of the room, yet this small amount of men are deciding and working through what could be the end of civilization. The film ushers in the golden age of Kubrick's career since his next two films were just as magnificent and he really never did an inferior film during the rest of his life.
The mark that Dr. Strangelove made on cinema is indescribable. The film gives a bit of social commentary while not being to preachy and entertains you while making you think. There has never been a satire to equal it and I don't see a terrorist type of this film coming very soon. Strangelove is one of those films where everything just gelled to perfection and equaled much more than what everyone put into it. From the stirring performance to Kubrick's direction it stands as a brilliant film and one of the best of all time.
No comments:
Post a Comment