Kino immer anders
What if during the cold war a psychotic high-ranking officer had set off a nuclear attack against Russia? What if the Russians had secretly built a bomb which, should the attack succeed, would activate itself? What if this bomb is a doomsday machine, capable of leaving earth uninhabitable for 100 years?
This is the chaotic setting that drives Dr. Strangelove. A setting so dreadful, yet so funny. Especially in its absurd dialogues like the emergency call between the US president and a clearly drunk Russian president. And as absurd as its dialogues is also its soundtrack. The song during the opening credits played over planes carrying atomic bombs would be suitable for a love story. Later on, the mushroom cloud rises to the sound of the lovely We’ll meet again.
The end of the world seems to be a push of a button away, assisted by the paranoia of almost every character. From the officer that believes his “bodily fluids” are being poisoned to general Scott, afraid the Russians gain superiority after the destruction of the planet. Nevertheless, we seem to walk towards it with delusional enthusiasm, hoping we will beat the other side or at least that We’ll meet again.
Tiago Viegas Dias
