"The Atomic Cafe" has got to be the most over-hyped documentary
of all time.
While "AC" is an ironic, often humorous, and sometimes horrifying
take on the atomic age (cobbled together from Defense Department footage and archives of civil defense films), its
over-stated reputation is more a result of the time in which it was
produced, rather than the film standing the test of time.
Since the concept of "Mutually Assured Destruction" has all but
dissolved (at least for now), what passed for irony in 1982 does
not necessarily pass for irony today, and in this respect, the film
shows it's age.
Perhaps what is most ironic in viewing this film in 2003, it seems
many of the civil defense pieces shown (and ridiculed) in "The
Atomic Cafe" have more relevance today in the age of nuclear
terrorism, than in the Cold-War era of "M.A.D." Seen in this
context, survival from a massive nuclear onslaught by the "Red
Menace" is laughable -- but, survival from a single (or "limited")
nuclear terrorist act is plausible. Perhaps ironically, the "Duck and
Cover" and home fallout shelter pieces in this film have some
relevance today -- ironic indeed.
Regardless, a vastly overrated film that is a product of the era of
"The Day After" and Reagan's "Evil Empire," but loses it's edge in
today's nuclear politics.
of all time.
While "AC" is an ironic, often humorous, and sometimes horrifying
take on the atomic age (cobbled together from Defense Department footage and archives of civil defense films), its
over-stated reputation is more a result of the time in which it was
produced, rather than the film standing the test of time.
Since the concept of "Mutually Assured Destruction" has all but
dissolved (at least for now), what passed for irony in 1982 does
not necessarily pass for irony today, and in this respect, the film
shows it's age.
Perhaps what is most ironic in viewing this film in 2003, it seems
many of the civil defense pieces shown (and ridiculed) in "The
Atomic Cafe" have more relevance today in the age of nuclear
terrorism, than in the Cold-War era of "M.A.D." Seen in this
context, survival from a massive nuclear onslaught by the "Red
Menace" is laughable -- but, survival from a single (or "limited")
nuclear terrorist act is plausible. Perhaps ironically, the "Duck and
Cover" and home fallout shelter pieces in this film have some
relevance today -- ironic indeed.
Regardless, a vastly overrated film that is a product of the era of
"The Day After" and Reagan's "Evil Empire," but loses it's edge in
today's nuclear politics.
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