Dr. Strangelove | The Critique

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb – Whoa, quite a name for a film. It’s a weird name for a film but successfully push across the message – its satire of highest grade with a strong anti-war message. Dr. Strangelove is a satire on cold war and the purpose of having nuclear weapons in the arsenal of armies.

 

An American General has taken control of a base and put it on alert. He has directed aircrafts with nuclear weapons towards USSR. While the step is apocalyptic, US Govt can hardly do anything about it. At Pentagon, Senior Officers and Analysts are sitting with President to resolve the issue. Communication with USSR is at ebb during Cold War however they manage to reach out to them. The situation becomes critical. Amidst all this, chaos is taking over in a sadistic but comic manner.

 

What makes Dr. Strangelove unique? Peter Sellers plays multiple and contrasting roles. The way he achieves perfection in each of them is quite spectacular. Though much of the screenplay is improvised, basic outline is very interesting. Using satire to describe something as boring as nuclear armageddon is really impressive. Some of the dialogues must have kicked extremists below the belt pretty hard. On visuals, it is as delightful as any Kubrick film. Cinematography and art design is experimental. The war room set with world map is a classic image.

 

Today, Dr. Strangelove is considered as one of the finest films ever made. It not only celebrates the brilliance of actors like Peter Sellers and George Scott and maverick like Kubrick, it celebrates a defining moment when anti-nuclear movement took shape in American popular culture and people were ready to shed the paranoia. Even without all cinematic qualities, just for the message, this film has an everlasting standing.

 

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh