What are the effects of a nuclear attack? When the Wind Blows is an answer to this question.This 1986 mixed media film explores an old couple’s struggle of experiencing fallout after a bomb. The film is based on the 1982 book, When the Wind Blows, by Raymond Briggs who wrote it in an effort to open the eyes of the public to the future of nuclear weapons in a modern world. They have warped opinions on the war based on their childhood experiences with it. They grew up in a period of time when nuclear weapons were not used. They remember small moments of joy despite the wars, and even give examples such as, “We had an old Anderson in the garden, I can see it now. We had nasturtiums growing all over it and we painted the front green. Painted it looked quite pretty. Nextdoor grew cabbages on theirs.”
Manipulation is often considered a human attribute, but this film uses nostalgia to pull and redirect the characters and their choices, or lack thereof. Throughout the film, the characters ignore and excuse the reality of the situation they are in, namely radiation exposure. The things they ignore include coughing, changing weather patterns, the smell of cooking meat outside, their health deteriorating as a result of radiation poisoning, and a lack of people in general. They are blinded by their past experiences and only look forward to the end of the war, not the full intensity and wreckage a war can cause.
Many themes and motifs are explored throughout the film such as colors, animals, and a general lack of other characters. The main characters are the only ones featured throughout the whole movie. The only other real person featured beyond the main characters is their son who calls once. The connections and themes that this film carries are not contained to it; they are present throughout other books and other films. The color green can often represent sickness and danger, while red represents passion and lust. In this film, the green and red appear throughout the house. Green and red are also featured in the clothing and flashbacks. Another thought-provoking motif is birds. Birds in film can represent freedom and mental instability, which can easily be connected to the movie. One movie that has the same red and green color palette is Pain and Glory (2019). The plot contains an older couple and the husband struggles with past experiences coming back after trying to abandon them. While this film continues the color theme, the film The Blue Bird (1918 film). The film directed by Maurice Tourneur and written by Maurice Maeterlinck features a theme of birds and represents freedom and prosperity.
The message When the Wind Blows carries can be understood as a cry or even plead to the world to stop the usage of nuclear weapons.
Viv Marchetti is a high school student in Massachusetts. He is an admirer of film and hopes to work in the industry.