ATOMIC WAR BRIDE (1960)
(a.k.a. RAT)
Article #399 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 4-18-2002
Posting date: 9-11-2002

A man’s wedding is interrupted by a declaration of war, and he tries to get home with his wife before the bombs strike.

This Yugoslavian nuclear war movie is almost indescribable. It is madly satirical, almost comic at times, darkly bleak at others, all centered around the exploits of the groom, who somehow remains giddily optimistic in the face of the apocalypse. It reminds me of both DR. STRANGELOVE and THIS IS NOT A TEST (it’s companion on DVD), but it predates them both and stakes out its own territory in the end-of-the-world movie genre. There are many unforgettable images; the destruction of a cow by airplanes, a bizarre radiation outfit training scene, a series of camouflage exercises that will leave your mouth hanging open, and the devastatingly sad final scene. I’d never even heard of this movie before I began my project; now I don’t think I’ll forget it.