When the Wind Blows

Genuinely one of the most devastating films I’ve ever seen, may have to watch something light like watership down or schindlers list to cheer me up. I could talk about this film for ages. The couples undying trust in government instructions, for example the idea of climbing into a paper bag for protection actually being a way to collect and identify their bodies, and their fixation on small things such as making sure they have the peanut butter recommended, shows their naivety of the situation, something their son doesn’t have, as he tries not to worry them. Possibly the most tragic result of this is that they would’ve been much better off going in their cellar, which they did not do due to it not being mandated to them. The film suggests this is brought on by the nostalgia they both feel for when they were kids in the war, and all through the film we are reminded that they really don’t understand the seriousness of the situation. Another example of this is that when the man is faced with a dilemma not outlined in one of the handbooks, he struggles or moves on. On top of this is the idealisation of Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin as being personable purely due to their appearances, and the man not being able to stop talking and being excited about military scenarios, even though it is clear he does not understand what they are/mean,  showing again he does not understand the impacts of what could happen. Perhaps the darkest part was when she goes to the toilet, her screams are so harrowing that although she claims to have seen a rat, the radiation poisoning most likely meant that she had released her intestines into the toilet, as hinted at by her egg spilling on the plate. The final cherry was that in a way, although it was inevitable, their deaths were in part the fault of their naievety, due to drinking the irradiated water. All of this, on top of the simple tragedy of the film and the beautiful animation becoming more and more real to symbolise their diminishing hope, plus the score, makes this film both mesmeric and heartbreaking. This film is horrific, and the final lines being the funeral prayer, and the woman telling her husband no more, is perfect. “The cake will be burned” “Trust the powers that be” “Keep calm and carry on” “Shall we pray dear?” “To who?”