Dr Strangelove

I finally watched this film by Stanley Kubrick today after attempting to watch Singing in the Rain with a badly scratched DVD.

Dr Strangelove perfectly captures the absurdity and the farcical nature of American hysteria and paranoia during the Cold War. I can only imagine what it was like to fear total annihilation. Some constructed bomb shelters at home while schools taught children bomb drills, but, there was ultimately nothing that could be done in the event of a nuclear war. And it is this assurance of destruction that kept the heads in Washington and Moscow rational enough not to shoot first.

George Scott was brilliant. His portrayal of a jingoistic, Commie-hating general was hilarious. I now wonder whether my image of the irrepressible Patton was really Patton or George Scott himself. I just realized this now after reading Wikipedia, but Peter Sellers also gave an outstanding performance by acting as the President, Col Mandrake, and Dr Strangelove himself.

All in all, this was a great film to start the weekend. It allowed me to have a better understanding of the spirit of the times during the Cold War while giving me a several great reasons to laugh.