9. When The Wind Blows (1986)
From the pen of Raymond 'The Snowman' Briggs, When the Wind Blows is an animated film which tackles the mighty subject of nuclear war - possibly the most depressing subject there is to contemplate. James and Hilda Bloggs are an elderly couple who live in the Sussex countryside. James is trying to make sense of the news which is chronicling the escalating tensions between the superpowers. He learns that nuclear war could be as little as three days away and of course, this being the 1980s - the government is circulating Protect and Survive manuals. James is trying to follow his manual's instructions and he manages to create a lean to shelter and paint his windows white. James and Hilda experienced World War Two in their childhoods so that is their taste of war. They are confident everything will be fine as long as they obey official instructions. A missile is released that sends shockwaves through the Bloggs' home. 'Luckily' they get into their shelter and stay there for several days as instructed. Whenever they emerge, their house has been wrecked and there is no water or electricity but James and Hilda try to carry on as if everything is okay - despite their growing radiation sickness. James thinks that ill civilians will be collected from houses and taken for treatment. When no help is forthcoming, James and Hilda fall into despair. At the end of the film they crawl into their shelter and pray. Of all of the films that deal with nuclear war, When the Wind Blows is one of the more gritty and realistic films (up there with Threads). The Day After was a sombre movie but ultimately sought to soothe the American public's fears about nuclear war with the message - we will be okay at the end of it really. When the Wind Blows delivers no hopes. It is desolate, depressing and horrific in a quiet way (by only focusing on the trials of an elderly couple). Upon watching the film, the growing realisation that it is better to be killed outright by the bomb rather than die a hopeless, agonising death - dawns in the viewer. Life after the bomb is simply intolerable. Nothing functions, it is every man for himself and everyone is croaking from radiation poisoning. When the Wind Blows lays out all of these bare facts and it is sad. Desperately sad. And that is why you cannot love this harrowing film because there is utterly no message of hope.