I’m not completely sure where to start on this post..so here it goes.. To be completely honest I really did not care for this film, so it is ironic that I’m leading the discussion this week. I’ll try to put my main feelings about the plot behind me to focus on the overall theme and technical aspects of the picture. Maybe the film just went over my head, but I’m going to try to understand how the reading could call Dr. Stangelove “One of the most fascinating and important films of the 1960’s”.
To summarize the film, USAF Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper, the commander of Burpelson Air Force Base, initiates a plan to attack the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons in the paranoid belief that there is a Communist conspiracy. The majority of the film then takes place in the war room of the Pentagon where General Buck Turgidson briefs President Merkin Muffley. Turgidson tries to persuade Muffley to seize the moment and eliminate the Soviet Union by launching a full-scale attack on remaining Soviet defensive capabilities. Muffley then rebukes him and summons the Soviet ambassador, Alexei DeSadeski, who calls Soviet Premier Dmitri Kisov on the "Hot Line", and gives the Soviets information to help them shoot down the American planes. He also states that a “doomsday device would initiate should any attck be made on the Soviet Union. That’s when Dr. Strangelove, a former Nazi and weapons expert, makes his entrance. To wrap the plot up, the code that when used would disband the attack is finally retrieved and relayed to all planes but one, whose ingoing and outgoing messaging machine was destroyed in an attack. Ultimately, the plane drops the missile and after a delayed response the dooms day device is activated, leaving the audience with views of exploding bombs and mushroom clouds in the sunset.
What I did like about the film was how it seemed to me to cross many governmental lines. The film portrayed the government and the United States Air force as almost incompetent and to having very little emotional reactions to what was going on. I found it really interesting that in the end, the president of the United states would be taking advice from a former Nazi on how to handle the situation. I think the filmmakers used the fear that still existed in many Americans and played on the idea that we could be thrown into a war by the actions of one mentally ill general and a series of miscommunications.
The reading definitely helped me relate more to the film. The director of the film had strong beliefs on the topics of war and the media. “In his mature work Kubrick has returned constantly to one of the gravest dilemmas of modem industrial society: the gap between man's scientific and technological skill and his social, political, and moral inep-titude”. The idea that there is a gap between the scientific and technological skill and social and moral beliefs is an idea that has always been a part of the war and idea that I think Krubrick was trying to bring to the forefront in this film. I believe he was trying to show how the greatest of technological advancements and war machines are useless in the hands of those not morally ready to use them or handle the outcome. This idea of an “accidental nuclear war” is both scary and possible.
While I may not have been a huge fan after first watching the film, I have a higher appreciation for it after the reading and analysis. The technical work behind the film was great. I could really appreciate the use of angles, lighting, and dramatic effects throughout the piece. What are your reactions to the film? I’m really interested to get other feedback on each of the characters and how they contributed to the film.
