Dr. Strangelove (5 Days)

The second political comedy that I watched this evening (see my last post) was "Dr. Strangelove". This is a film that I own on DVD, but haven't watched for the last 12 years. I wonder why not.

General Ripper is in charge of an air force base. He sends a coded message to B-52 bombers under his command telling them to drop nuclear bombs on Russia. The message is only to be sent to retaliate to a military strike on America. No such strike has taken place. He's under the delusion that Russia has been poisoning Americans with fluoride for years. The planes are under radio silence and can only be called back by using a secret code known only to the general. He kills himself before revealing the code.

The film is a comedy, but the humour is subtle, It's more of a satire than an outright comedy. Much of the humour is about the ridiculous nature of the arms race. Safeguards have been put in place that only make the danger of a nuclear confrontation more likely. Peter Sellers plays three roles in the film, including that of Dr. Strangelove himself. He's an ex-Nazi, and when under pressure he's unable to hide his Nazi ideology. He smiles fiendishly when he suggests the breeding of a new genetically pure master race.

My meetings with the (unofficial) film group are a great reward to me as a film fan. I'm given films to watch which I either don't know or have never fully appreciated. I tried to hold groups like this when I lived in England, but my friends weren't as devoted. They stayed away when the film theme was something that didn't interest them. No theme would keep me away. Any type, any genre of film can be good, and I'm especially interested if it's a genre that I don't usually watch.

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