Post by klep on Oct 2, 2017 6:50:49 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 10/2: Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
COLD WAR WEEK!
The Cold War was best defined by fear. Fear of nuclear annihilation, fear of communism (or capitalism, depending on your side), fear of falling behind in any aspect of the contest of wills and braggadocio and bullshit macho posturing. It's this insecurity which caused a truly absurd build-up of nuclear arsenals on both sides, and the military excess that accompanied it.
Stanley Kubrick's famous Dr. Strangelove plays with this fear and insecurity. It does what all great satires do, namely find a thread of absurdity in its subject and pull on it until everything comes unraveled. The film starts with a seemingly dire situation - a US military commander (Sterling Hayden) seals off his base and sets the strategic bombers under his command to attack their targets. He's fancifully named Jack D. Ripper, but you could be forgiven in these first few minutes for thinking this is a serious film.
But then we meet General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) - or rather, we meet his scantily clad secretary and girlfriend taking a call for him while he's on the toilet. Ripper has actually gone rogue, a single man usurping the chain of command to launch a nuclear apocalypse. Ripper's hope is that his actions will spark full commitment to a first strike, and spare the US the devastating consequences of a counterattack.
And why is Ripper doing this? To protect his "precious bodily fluids" from a Commie plot to poison our water with so-called "fluoride." He discovered this plot, you see, when he was having trouble getting an erection during sex. Clearly, the most obvious explanation was a far-reaching, well-hidden conspiracy on the part of Communist forces to taint America's water supply - thereby draining Americans' precious bodily fluids of their vital essence. And so the world faces its end because a man couldn't handle the fact that he suffered from impotence that one time.
This blinding machismo follows the film to its famous War Room, where Turgidson is ensconced with President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers, in one of his three roles) and a number of advisors trying to come up with a solution. It's no accident that Merikn Muffley is given such an emasculating name - he seems to be the only person in the room standing in the way of Ripper's insane aim - total commitment to the strike. Instead he tries to work with the Russians to prevent all-out nuclear war - causing Turgidson's face to repeatedly contort like a cartoon character as he goes through a truly prodigious amount of gum and futile protestations.
The Russians however, are full of macho pride of their own, and have recently finished construction of a doomsday device - afraid of a Doomsday Gap. If even one of Ripper's planes reaches its target, this device will automatically, unpreventably, and irreversibly trigger a full response.
Which it inevitably does. But not to be deterred, the film's penultimate scene before the bombs hit features our war room crew debating the importance of not suffering a Mine Shaft Gap as they plot the post apocalypse in which, naturally, there will need to be 10 attractive women for every man - only that the species may continue, of course. The surviving men's sacrifice of monogamy (on their part) will surely be an heroic gesture long-remembered.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 10/9: Yojimbo
GENRE MASH-UP WEEK!
Many great American filmmakers have taken cues from Kurosawa, using his ideas or stories as a launching point for their own in films like The Magnificent Seven or Star Wars. But Kurosawa also cribbed from American filmmakers, as we see in the samurai film-cum-western Yojimbo, our next Movie of the Week! Yojimbo is available on Filmstruck's Criterion channel and for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 10/3: The Exterminating Angel
Next week's podcast pairs Darren Aronofsky's new film mother! with this Luis Bunuel film. We'll have a thread on Wednesday to discuss the older work. The Exterminating Angel is available on Filmstruck's Criterion channel and for rent on Amazon Video, where it is free for Prime members with a Filmbox add-on.
COLD WAR WEEK!
The Cold War was best defined by fear. Fear of nuclear annihilation, fear of communism (or capitalism, depending on your side), fear of falling behind in any aspect of the contest of wills and braggadocio and bullshit macho posturing. It's this insecurity which caused a truly absurd build-up of nuclear arsenals on both sides, and the military excess that accompanied it.
Stanley Kubrick's famous Dr. Strangelove plays with this fear and insecurity. It does what all great satires do, namely find a thread of absurdity in its subject and pull on it until everything comes unraveled. The film starts with a seemingly dire situation - a US military commander (Sterling Hayden) seals off his base and sets the strategic bombers under his command to attack their targets. He's fancifully named Jack D. Ripper, but you could be forgiven in these first few minutes for thinking this is a serious film.
But then we meet General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) - or rather, we meet his scantily clad secretary and girlfriend taking a call for him while he's on the toilet. Ripper has actually gone rogue, a single man usurping the chain of command to launch a nuclear apocalypse. Ripper's hope is that his actions will spark full commitment to a first strike, and spare the US the devastating consequences of a counterattack.
And why is Ripper doing this? To protect his "precious bodily fluids" from a Commie plot to poison our water with so-called "fluoride." He discovered this plot, you see, when he was having trouble getting an erection during sex. Clearly, the most obvious explanation was a far-reaching, well-hidden conspiracy on the part of Communist forces to taint America's water supply - thereby draining Americans' precious bodily fluids of their vital essence. And so the world faces its end because a man couldn't handle the fact that he suffered from impotence that one time.
This blinding machismo follows the film to its famous War Room, where Turgidson is ensconced with President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers, in one of his three roles) and a number of advisors trying to come up with a solution. It's no accident that Merikn Muffley is given such an emasculating name - he seems to be the only person in the room standing in the way of Ripper's insane aim - total commitment to the strike. Instead he tries to work with the Russians to prevent all-out nuclear war - causing Turgidson's face to repeatedly contort like a cartoon character as he goes through a truly prodigious amount of gum and futile protestations.
The Russians however, are full of macho pride of their own, and have recently finished construction of a doomsday device - afraid of a Doomsday Gap. If even one of Ripper's planes reaches its target, this device will automatically, unpreventably, and irreversibly trigger a full response.
Which it inevitably does. But not to be deterred, the film's penultimate scene before the bombs hit features our war room crew debating the importance of not suffering a Mine Shaft Gap as they plot the post apocalypse in which, naturally, there will need to be 10 attractive women for every man - only that the species may continue, of course. The surviving men's sacrifice of monogamy (on their part) will surely be an heroic gesture long-remembered.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 10/9: Yojimbo
GENRE MASH-UP WEEK!
Many great American filmmakers have taken cues from Kurosawa, using his ideas or stories as a launching point for their own in films like The Magnificent Seven or Star Wars. But Kurosawa also cribbed from American filmmakers, as we see in the samurai film-cum-western Yojimbo, our next Movie of the Week! Yojimbo is available on Filmstruck's Criterion channel and for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 10/3: The Exterminating Angel
Next week's podcast pairs Darren Aronofsky's new film mother! with this Luis Bunuel film. We'll have a thread on Wednesday to discuss the older work. The Exterminating Angel is available on Filmstruck's Criterion channel and for rent on Amazon Video, where it is free for Prime members with a Filmbox add-on.