fail-safeabsolutely incredible movie. it's literally an alternate version of dr. strangelove, made at the same time, but completely serious. i'm not sure if i've seen a more GRIPPING movie in my entire life. the message of the film is something that's been seen before and since countless times(done in a more interesting manner in strangelove) but the execution of this film is superior to really anything i've ever seen like this. there's almost this film noir quality to the film, with sparse, inconsequential sets, and an overemphasis on dramatic lighting. if this wasn't balanced carefully it would have really ruined the film, but as such it really guides the eye to where it's supposed to go and where your attention is meant to be paid. i find the movie oddly hypnotic, and i'm not really sure it's meant to be.
also the cast in the movie is incredible, with a lot of guys giving what is really their best performance. walter matthau, in particular, is fucking badass in this. it's really a shame that people only remember him playing GOOFBALL roles, because he could legitimately do anything.
anyway, the movie is made by sidney lumet, who also did
network and
twelve angry men. both of those movies are really big deals, justifiably so, but i still think fail-safe is a better made movie. not by a lot, really, but i think the level of intensity the movie reaches and maintains is really incredible. i even think it's a better movie than dr. strangelove, but nobody else agrees with me.
what i think lumet really has an incredible ability to capture, moreso than any director i am aware of, is the sheer dramatic power that you usually only see live in the theatre. one of the reasons actors typically prefer that to film acting is because it's a much more natural, much purer experience for them. you slip into the character's mind and don't leave for a couple hours. it's really the pinnacle of acting, which is an enormous contrast to film acting, which is heavily fragmented and does not have the ability to surprise the actor or the audience in terms of the sheer dramatic presentation of it. you just don't sink in as deeply and the result is visible in most films. i don't really know how he does it, but many of lumet's films manage to capture that very pure emotion that usually don't get to see beyond the theatre. fail-safe is probably not as good an example of that as twelve angry men, but it doesn't hold the film back.
kinda rambling, but this is a really stellar movie. the kind of movie that i really wouldn't hesitate recommending to anybody.