Dr Strangelove or: How I learned to stop worrying and love
the bomb
Holding the prestigious honour of having the longest title
of any Best Film Nominee is Stanley Kubrik’s 1964 satirical Cold War classic.
Both this film and the Cold War may have been way before my time (Like most
great comedies it would seem) but the subject Is one that I personally find
very interesting, and one that is just as relevant today as it was almost 40
years ago. As such I made it the first film in my long list of films people
keep telling me I should see (especially if I run a movie blog!)
Dr Strangelove instantly shot to the top of my list of favourite
comedies. Taking the very serious, and at the time very real threat of all out
nuclear holocaust, and turning it into something hilarious is in my mind one of
Kubrick’s finest ideas. The studio refused to create the film unless the
ever-hilarious Peter Sellers was cast in at least 4 roles; however, he gave up
the role of Maj. “King” Kong on the grounds that he couldn’t do a Texas accent.
This of course resulted in Slim Pickens riding the A-Bomb and waving his cowboy
hat as it plummets towards its target triggering the end of the world as we know
it.
The cast is stellar, the jokes stand up better than films
released just a few years ago (“You can’t fight in here, this is the war room!”)
and the direction is impeccable, making me wonder why on earth Kubrick never
attempted comedy again, as we learn how our end will be bought about by the incompetance, distrust and constant attempts at one upmanship of our political leaders. I can’t recommend this film enough.
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