This used to be the one I named as my all-time favorite film, back in the '70's and '80's. I have since yielded to the timelessness of Dr. Strangelove now (since it too has dropped off the radar screen of all but the serious film aficionados), but the '60's are coming back into style and this captures the wackiness and originality of the period better than almost anything can. So this recommendation is directed to you youngsters!
Why is this film significant? Well, in order to understand this one has to appreciate the beauty and importance of satire. This art form has a long history and reached a pinnacle in the desperate days of the peak of the Cold War. The impossible contradictions and absurdities of those days (think that our safety relied upon Mutually Assured Destruction, and the recognition of it by an enemy we generally considered insanely evil) revealed themselves best through caricature. Though today's art doesn't seem to have much recognition for the genre, preferring either literal-mindedness or the totally bonkered (think Being John Malkovich), the "all forms of power are corrupt" mentality will still resonate.
I love the fact that the greatest villains of all (way beyond the misdeeds of the national spy services, which were mostly just deluded) were The Phone Company. Those who were born after the breakup of AT&T might not quite get it, but here was a monolithic power with respect for nothing, and nothing beyond its control (think Microsoft). Bell Telephone had an artful PR campaign developing movies mixing science fact and cartoons for classroom education (and indoctrination), which is mercilessly skewered in a critical scene--I have to admit that it reduced me to helpless hysterics the first dozen or so times that I saw it, so powerful the memories it brought up. And the nefarious scheme to plant personal communications devices inside us, so we need only think to make a call--I will never believe that it isn't on the drawing boards of the geek shops out there somewhere. Remember, this was before the era of handphones.
What was so hip (and is so dated) about the movie (along with the '60's haircuts, gear, music) is the paranoid theory of history that lies behind it. Society has moved from naivety, to drowning in conspiracy theories, and then beyond to agnostic ignorance. Today, we have to live life normally depite the fact that agents with evil purposes are out there always. And the movie goes through the same sequence.
It's intensely funny at times, hopeless sentimental at others, but ultimately possessing sound production values and some good acting (Coburn, of course, but also a remarkable performance from Godfrey McCambridge as a just-folks CIA man), a complex but well-designed plot, and some serious insight which still works (Cold War or no). Yes, you should see it in some state which permits some relaxation of your usual disbelief and skepticism.
The shots of the downtown NY scene in the '60's are priceless (Cafe Wha?)!
Why is this film significant? Well, in order to understand this one has to appreciate the beauty and importance of satire. This art form has a long history and reached a pinnacle in the desperate days of the peak of the Cold War. The impossible contradictions and absurdities of those days (think that our safety relied upon Mutually Assured Destruction, and the recognition of it by an enemy we generally considered insanely evil) revealed themselves best through caricature. Though today's art doesn't seem to have much recognition for the genre, preferring either literal-mindedness or the totally bonkered (think Being John Malkovich), the "all forms of power are corrupt" mentality will still resonate.
I love the fact that the greatest villains of all (way beyond the misdeeds of the national spy services, which were mostly just deluded) were The Phone Company. Those who were born after the breakup of AT&T might not quite get it, but here was a monolithic power with respect for nothing, and nothing beyond its control (think Microsoft). Bell Telephone had an artful PR campaign developing movies mixing science fact and cartoons for classroom education (and indoctrination), which is mercilessly skewered in a critical scene--I have to admit that it reduced me to helpless hysterics the first dozen or so times that I saw it, so powerful the memories it brought up. And the nefarious scheme to plant personal communications devices inside us, so we need only think to make a call--I will never believe that it isn't on the drawing boards of the geek shops out there somewhere. Remember, this was before the era of handphones.
What was so hip (and is so dated) about the movie (along with the '60's haircuts, gear, music) is the paranoid theory of history that lies behind it. Society has moved from naivety, to drowning in conspiracy theories, and then beyond to agnostic ignorance. Today, we have to live life normally depite the fact that agents with evil purposes are out there always. And the movie goes through the same sequence.
It's intensely funny at times, hopeless sentimental at others, but ultimately possessing sound production values and some good acting (Coburn, of course, but also a remarkable performance from Godfrey McCambridge as a just-folks CIA man), a complex but well-designed plot, and some serious insight which still works (Cold War or no). Yes, you should see it in some state which permits some relaxation of your usual disbelief and skepticism.
The shots of the downtown NY scene in the '60's are priceless (Cafe Wha?)!