In the late fifties, during the height of the Cold War, Tom Lehrer wrote his great satirical song We Will All Go Together When We Go and by 1962 Stanley Kubrick had bought the film rights to the thriller Red Alert, by the retired RAF navigator Peter George. He meant to direct an action film about a nuclear war triggered by a solitary madman, but some way into his work on the script he realised the story was too appalling for serious treatment and decided to recast it as an out-and-out satire. It has become, without doubt, the fiercest, political, satirical farce of all times.
Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey are Kubrick’s masterpieces and share a common theme: Humans design machinery that functions with perfect logic to bring about a disastrous outcome. The U.S. nuclear deterrent and the Russian “doomsday machine” function exactly as they are intended and so destroy life on earth. The computer HAL 9000 serves the space mission by attacking the astronauts.
In real life in 1962 a Russian submarine officer, Vasili Arkhipov, is credited with averting a nuclear catastrophe during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when he refused to authorise the launch of a nuclear torpedo when the submarine was under attack by U.S. ships. His decision to surface the submarine and await orders from Moscow is widely seen as having prevented a nuclear war.
Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove could hardly be more appropriate to screen today as madmen from all sides continue to hold the world to ransom with their fingers on the button.
The Drill Hall Film Society screens classic films at an affordable price in comfortable tiered seating in our air-conditioned theatre. Grab a delicious snack and beverage from the bar, and be part of our lively film discussions after each show.
Become a Film Society subscriber for just $75 and gain entry to 11 films/year (or $60 if you’re a Drill Hall Theatre Company associate member). Casual guest rates cost $10/film.
Contact Peter on
ZHJpbGxoYWxsZmlsbXMgfCBnbWFpbCAhIGNvbQ== for more information or to become a member.
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