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Kubrick's next project was Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), another satirical black comedy. Because Kubrick came of age after World War II and the beginning of the Cold War period, he, like many others, was worried about the possibilities of nuclear war. He became preoccupied with it in the late 1950s, fearing that New York, where he lived, could be a likely target, and even considered moving to Australia. Kubrick studied over forty military and political research books and eventually reached the conclusion that "nobody really knew anything and the whole situation was absurd".[1] After reading the novel Red Alert, he decided that a "serious treatment" of the subject would not be believable, and thought that some of its most salient points would be fodder for comedy.[2] Kubrick hired noted black comedy and satirical writer Terry Southern to transform Red Alert into "an outrageous black comedy", loaded with sexual innuendo.[3] Peter Sellers agreed to play four roles in the film; "an RAF captain on secondment to Burpelson Air Force Base as adjutant to Sterling Hayden's crazed General Ripper; the inept President of the United States; his sinister German security adviser; and the Texan pilot of the rogue B52 bomber".[4] The film scholar Abrams considers Dr. Strangelove to be the direct opposite from Fear and Desire, in that in contrast to the monologues and aloof atmosphere of the latter, in Dr. Strangelove, "Kubrick addresses the question of what happens when men try to handle the most important human issues as collectives rather than as individuals", featuring "ridiculous dialogues".[5] He points out that Kubrick was a "unique kind of absurdist", and enjoyed presenting how human beings face the absurd in the face of death.[6]
Kubrick found that Dr. Strangelove would be impossible to make in the U.S. for various technical and political reasons, forcing him to move production to England. It was shot in some 15 weeks, ending in April 1963, after which Kubrick spent eight months editing.[7]Dr. Strangelove, a $2 million production,[8] employed what became the "first important visual effects crew in the world",[9] and the War Room set created for the film by Ken Adam was considered by Steven Spielberg to be the greatest set that Adam had ever designed.[10] A custard pie scene was actually shot in the room over one week, striking down President Muffley, but in end Kubrick thought it was too farcical and inconsistent with the dark humor of the picture.[7] Upon release, the film stirred up much controversy and mixed opinions. Although Time, the Nation, Newsweek and Life, among many, gave it "positive, often ecstatic reviews", New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther worried that it was a "discredit and even contempt for our whole defense establishment ... the most shattering sick joke I've ever come across".[11]Robert Brustein of Out of This World in a February 1970 article called it a "Juvenalian satire that releases through comic poetry, those feelings of impotence and frustration that are consuming us all".[7] Kubrick responded to the criticism, stating: "A satirist is someone who has a very skeptical view of human nature, but who still has the optimism to make some sort of a joke out of it. However brutal that joke might be".[12] Today the film is considered to be one of the sharpest comedy films ever made, and holds a near perfect 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 68 reviews as of August 2015.[13] It was voted the 39th greatest American film and third greatest comedy film of all time by the American Film Institute,[14][15] and in 2010 it was voted the sixth best comedy film of all time by The Guardian.[16]
References
^Duncan 2003, p. 87. sfn error: no target: CITEREFDuncan2003 (help)
^Walker 1972, p. 29. sfn error: no target: CITEREFWalker1972 (help)
^Duncan 2003, pp. 87–9. sfn error: no target: CITEREFDuncan2003 (help)
^Baxter 1997, p. 177. sfn error: no target: CITEREFBaxter1997 (help)
^Abrams 2007, p. 22. sfn error: no target: CITEREFAbrams2007 (help)
^Abrams 2007, p. 30. sfn error: no target: CITEREFAbrams2007 (help)
What is the problem with my edit? You can't explain the reason?[edit]
Many articles on films include the country (in this case, the countries) of origin. Both U.S. and U.K. film authorities awarded honors to "Dr. Strangelove" as a film originating in THEIR country. The confusion over this is easily resolved by including "British-American" in the opening paragraph. I don't see what the problem is, and you don't see fit to explain what it is. Rontrigger (talk) 23:26, 12 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
As per the relevant guidelines at WP:MOSFILM#Lead section: "If the nationality is singularly defined by reliable sources (e.g., being called an American film), identify it in the opening sentence. If the nationality is not singular, cover the different national interests later in the lead section".
Since this film is an international co-production between the U.K. and the U.S. as indicated in the infobox, we don't list the nationalities in the opening sentence. Lord Sjones23 (talk - contributions) 23:26, 14 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
AFI cited the film on two lists: the best American movies, and the funniest American films.
It was nominated for a BAFTA award as Best British Film.
The guidelines are only that--guidelines. They are not ironclad rules without exceptions. And clearly there is an unexpected problem here. The nationality is not singular, yet there is a seeming contradiction that should be explained before going further into the lead section.
What is wrong with a simple clarification in the opening sentence making it unneccessary to go to the Infobox? In fact, isn't it possible that someone might not think of consulting the Infobox? Rontrigger (talk) 01:15, 15 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I see no reason here to not follow the guideline. The issue with films involving multiple countries is that to frontload all the countries creates an uncommon label (like "Brazil-Canadian-Japanese") which does not indicate who did what. To avoid disputes about if a a film is American, British, or American-British, the point of the guideline is to instead unpack the multiple countries' involvement in fuller context than available in the opening sentence. Erik (talk | contrib) (ping me) 17:54, 15 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Ordinarily I would agree. But in the opening paragraph the honors given by AFI identify "Dr. Strangelove" as an American film, while BAFTA actually nominated it for Best British Film. I think identifying the film immediately as "British-American" would resolve any confusion--especially since a reader might not think to check the Infobox and in any case shouldn't be forced to do so. Rontrigger (talk) 00:40, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I added a sentence at the end of the lead section's first paragraph to provide context. Erik (talk | contrib) (ping me) 11:56, 16 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
level-4 vital article is rated B-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
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