The ultimate cold war paranoia comedy that brilliantly sends-up the abstract absurdity of nuclear deterrence through topflight lead performances and quality screenwriting. George C Scott gives the best performance, here, as a not-very-bright military man who prefers to use ten words when one would have sufficed.
Where the film really scores is in its clear-sighted focus on the causal relationship between thwarted sexuality and aggressive military action. The phallic symbols of atom bombs, Nazi salutes and machine guns are on full display as men vie with each other (ultimately) to show not who is the most well endowed, but who is the most sexually-insecure.
Interestingly, Peter SELLERS’ Dr Strangelove is the classic racist who has to try to hide his true feelings while desperately seeking to express them. His attempts to stop his willfully-disobedient right arm from saluting his Fuehrer are one of the many reasons SELLERS was such a superb comic actor.
Copyright © 2009 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.
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