When the Wind Blows – 1986 | 80 mins | Animation, War | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Jimmy T. Murakami’s chilling Cold War animation is based on Raymond Briggs graphic novel that satirises the government’s infamous nuclear war Protect and Survive booklet. Murakami’s criminally neglected masterpiece remains one of the most thought-provoking anti-war films with a heartbreakingly poignant ending.

Jim and Hilda Bloggs (voiced by John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft) are the typical, retired couple in rural Sussex. They drink endless cups of tea and have an unwavering faith in the wisdom of their government. They understand that a Third World War is imminent between the US and the Soviet Union, however they fail to grasp the concept that war will by nuclear means, and what consequences this will have. The quaint couple fondly reminisce about childhood WWII air raids and naively expect a nuclear strike to be little more than a minor inconvenience.

With the help of misleading and contradictory government issued pamphlets Jim builds a shelter from wooden interior doors to protect the couple, and although they survive a nuclear blast they are completely ignorant to the fact that the radiation from the fall out is slowly killing them. All the time they believe in the government and that, sooner rather than later, the status-quo will be restored.