One scene worth mentioning is when Jim and Hilda smell what they think is roasted meat and Hilda assumes that it's coming from people having dinner in their homes...while the camera pans over what vaguely resemble the skeletal remains of a dog and a person, before transitioning to the wreckage of a small city, where the camera stops on a melted teddy bear.
@@iamwhoyousayiam6773 Because it shows the audience how devastating the effects of the bomb were, confirming the implication that few survived the blast, and showing the full extent of how horrific nuclear war truly is.
@@iamwhoyousayiam6773not to mention the smell of roasted meat that they're smelling is likely the smell of burnt human flesh and since the couple is seemingly in a completely remote area that also implies just how many people are dead
The paper bags is one of the best foreshadowings I’ve seen. It’s something subtle, something you wouldn’t notice at first, but realize later on. This movie really captures the real situation, and does it so good.
I at first thought they would use the bags to store their clothes in after the blast. After the bomb detonates and you reach your shelter, it is advised to undress, shower, and put possible contaminated clothes into a plastic bag. The grim realisation didn't drop on me until he started talking about body bags...
Why did he not use the cellar then 😭💔 The guide book must have said something around these lines, that if you have a cellar, it's best to go in there, right? Goddamnit Tom :(
I feel like this would have been worse if they used the cellar I feel like they would've just starved to death in an even worse ending. I don't think there was any chance of them making it
I remember being in hawaii when that "ballistic missle imbound" warning came through. We were at my families house where we would have died no matter what. I had my young daughter with me and we just played candyland and hung out laughing as a family because at that point there would have been no point to try and hide.
This is kind of a strange thing to say to a stranger but I’m glad the alarm was false and you and your daughter made it out ok. Thank you for making those moments non scary for her.
My children played chess as my precious Mama passed to heaven. We laughed and sang. We hugged and embraced the last moments, as they were near. ❤ She passed with her husband, my Dad of 48 years, sisters, kids and Grandchildren. It's powerful. I remember when that happened to y'alls in Hawaii. ❤ Best wishes from California.
Damn... I've seen footage of that incident, and read articles on it, but to be **in** Hawaii at that time must be terrifying, you're amazing for helping your daughter through this, who probably didn't even know what was going on.
That moment when Hilda says "should we have used the cellar, dear?" just made my jaw drop and I nearly pulled my own hair out, mentally screaming "noooooo you poor, silly couple!"
@@nekotyrant1629 the booklet said so, but it was focused on sheltering the middle room. so old people did what was most focused on - just like in real life
@@unfortunatebeamThere was actually a “half decent” chance at survival if they had followed the rules we, in the future now know. But that? That’s the point. That’s the entire idea of the film, the pure negligence for the true people affected by these government decisions. We know now how to prepare for survival and in worst scenarios how to prepare for death. The couple were woefully underprepared and under informed, but had so many opportunities to possibly survive. That’s the tragedy.
The “grainy white spots” that float around near the end of the movie could be a nod to when they’re wondering about what fallout looks like when they first step outside after the bomb had gone off. They’re speculating and the husband says something to the tune of “I reckon it would look like snow”. My guess is the white specks on the screen and to show they’re both fully aware at that point that they’ve been exposed to the fallout
Looking at the blu Ray copy I own, the white grainy spots are there before because of the grainy photos of the CELs that make up the animations. It is just the era, but its a very good comparison.
Looking at the image of Jim singing “smile” while slowly dying is so haunting and strangely beautiful with how hopeful he is, it’s enough to make me wanna cry. I think the bags becoming realistic is very interesting. I see it as not just reality setting in, but also the idea that they are becoming apart of the background, as if just another miscellaneous object destroyed in the blast.
I think there's definitely a point where Jim realizes that they're a lot worse off than he lets on. The fact that they bring up the ID's again after getting in the potato sacks is pretty clear proof to me that they know they're dying, and have understood the true purpose of the bags.
She definitely realizes it, she's the one who suggests it and then asks about the IDs. He recites the Light Brigade poem, and she tells him to stop...but she never tells him he's wrong. Just "No more...". She knows he's right. She just doesn't want that to be her last thought. "No. No more..."
@@Medicandarchamedes Basically its a body bag. If someone died in the shelter you were to just like, cover with a sheet or put into a makeshift body bag and leave their ID with them until medical help arrived.
On the subject of their son, I'd actually wager that their denial plays a part here. They know, they have a gut feeling, that everything is so much worse than they're deluding themselves. By not mentioning their son, it means neither one of them has to face the very likely situation that he is now dead.
That could explain most of their denial. Deep inside they know he’s dead and they’re doomed, but to not bring up or think about the horrifying subject they still just remain positive and happy that they literally are gonna die.
@@gamingwithgavin1283 Yeah, at the end Hilda tells Jim not to say that poem, because that's just a reminder of the reality of the whole situation. She never says he's wrong. Just "No. No more." Like "Please. Don't remind me."
When the wind blows is technically a sequel to the graphic novel Gentleman Jim. It stars the same couple but younger. Jim is a toilet cleaner dissatisfied with his position in life, so he dreams up a more exciting life. All his attempts at chasing his passions end up backfiring, and he learns to be happy with what he has. This story certainly recontextualizes that ending.
oh my hod that's the one i read! i remember reading one like when the wind blows but without the whole nuclear bit, and also remember the toilet part, but i've never been able to find it until now!
@@carebear8655Briggs was a nice guy but he had a lot of sadness in his life; his mother had dementia, and he lost both his parents 2 years before his own wife to cancer after years of helping her live with her mental illness. His stories and books have dark undertones, but also a lot of joy and moving morals. I love his work!
"We will all go together when we go" is a Tom Lehrer song from the early '60s; great choice to highlight the generational difference between father and son.
I remember it being said by so many adults " When it comes we shall all meet outside hold hands and go together" it was a scary thing to hear especially when you're a child so full of life. What with all the other nuclear war films and AIDs PSA's they were quite scary for us so must have been worse for the adults who understood the repercussions of all this.....now I'm starting to agree that the world is ready for a great reset😂
Its horrifying because the couples personalities have traits that most peoples grandparents have. They also dress the same as a lot of our grandparents. Its hard to watch this and not think of your grandparents in this scenario, clueless, patriotic, and happy despite the most sinister thing imaginable happening to them. I won't forget this for a while.
Took the words out of my mouth, they really reminded me of mine, as sad as it is that they both passed away already, part if me is glad that if it ever comes to this (which lets face it, fairly possible in the next 2+ years) they wont experience this anymore..
I was born smack in the middle of the Cold War, and my parents, for some awful reason, got me this book when I was like 11. Scared the ever living stuffing out of me and set up a persistent fear of nuclear war that took me years to cope with. Funny enough when I realized that we were within the flash radius of a military base, the idea of instant painless death made it a lot easier to cope. The ending of this book, while well written with a lovely soft art style, is literally nightmare fuel.
@@kyle.sterritt I kind of developed a grim fatalism and learned to repair electronics. Something I figured would be valuable in the aftermath. By the age of 14 I was making decent side money fixing tube TVs and car radios and not particularly scared of anything because I had been so scared of nuclear destruction for so long even that just became a dull roar of generalized anxiety.
When Jim yells “Come back you stupid bitch and get in the shelter!” that’s meant to shock you in purpose. It also serves as a tone shift for the movie, changing from this calm and casual day for Jim and Hilda, to something that will shock you and possibly have you covering your mouth, which is what I did when Jim said those 10 words.
I remember casually watching the movie back in the 2010s, getting more and more invested in their story. And that scene left me both gobsmacked and with a damning realisation that shit was now REALLY going down. Obviously it was a distressing situation and it was conveyed/understood very well in that context.
"The cake will be burnt", is such a realistic disassociation that people engage in. Worrying about something small instead of the actual traumatic event you're dealing with. Like once one of my pet rats I was very close to had died, and I buried him, and that night it rained, and I started crying because I was thinking "he's out there cold and alone in the rain, my poor baby." He was dead.. he couldn't feel anything, but it was easier for my brain to obsess over the cold and rain and not the fact that he was completely gone forever, something that I was still having trouble processing.
I had the exact same response when I had to let my guinea pig go. It rained that night, and I had to leave her alone in the cold, I couldn't go get her and bring her inside. I couldn't go hold her like she loved. I couldn't give her the treats and veggies she adored. I had no choice but to leave her out there because she was gone. She's dead. But all I could focus on was something small. I just couldn't acknowledge the reality right away. I think it's a very good analogy. Your brain protects you from the most hurtful part as best it can, and focuses on a smaller detail of the pain to process first. It's not about the bomb, but that while the danger is outside and impending doom is rocketing towards them, her first thought is the cake. Her life, her cake, it's all going to be left behind. Get in the shelter, think about one small thing. The bomb hits, reality slams in, and now it's over, right? Well, the cake is gone, and wow that was bad, but now the military will fix everything. Everything will be fine. Sure a bomb went off, but it'll be fine, right? Popper may be outside but it'll be okay. Soon enough I can go back to normal. It's all so harrowing.
i had about the same thought process when my grandpa died when i was nine for context , every year in september there's a week where a fair comes to our town and i've went there since i was really young since we were all grieving and whatnot , we didn't go to the fair that year and my dumbass was crying over the FAIR and not my fucking grandfather and my parents yelled at me and said i cared more about a stupid fair than my grandpa i was NINE do you think i'd fully accept the gravity of death yet mom (i mean in hindsight i guess i could see where they're coming from , we basically go to funerals like every year)
I had the same thoughts when mom passed. I couldn’t stop thinking how cold it was and how she hated to be cold-kept her house at 80* year round and still kept a blanket on. I guess it was keeping my mind off the real problem of her being gone-but it was almost as bad to obsess over that. I still sometimes get those thoughts when I visit the cemetery.
Im so glad to see a portrayal of a couple in stressful situations where they aren’t fighting. It feels like all we’re ever shown is that even the most perfect relationships fail in the face of sufficient hardship but that’s not true. These two have such a wholesome and beautiful relationship which makes their endurance both inspiring and heartbreaking. And to think that a simple blue pigment could have saved their lives.
@@heliodoro2104 Prussian blue, it grabs radioactive heavy metals and forces them out of the body instead of letting them slowly cook you from the inside.
My high school had a play about this story and I got to play as Hilda. Seeing it play out on stage and getting to act as a character in the story is truly something I'll never forget experiencing. I was actually feeling bad for the characters and I wanted to tell them "noooo you can't go outside after the bomb!! you can't walk to where the bomb dropped!! don't drink the rain!!" but I couldn't. It felt so surreal that I was acting out my own death in a way. Knowing what was coming but not being able to stop it while having to act oblivious. Truly horrifying.
I think Hilda knew at the end of the movie that they were dying and for all the comforting Jim did for Hilda, it was Hilda that comforted him as she guided him into the bags and to their deaths with a prayer
That's what moved me the most - how they looked after each other even after the end. In a way, When the Wind Blows is a tragic love story - and considering their relationship is based on the author's parents maybe that's what it's so raw.
@phoebevaughan5095 Same, that's what hit me like a ton of bricks. You can almost picture any loving couple in that situation. Your parents, grandparents, and even yourself. It's just so bleak and touching.
I don't think Jim worked it out from the start, but the film does imply that he realises it about 10 mins before the finale. (When he's giving Hilda a hug he says 'It's just the side effects of the Bomb...' and there's a dramatic musical sting while his face seems to show recognition, especially since he knows she can't see it.) Which seems about right for his character.
The music starting to pick up when Ducks realised her hair is falling out really hurts because it seems to be the point of where they both realise "oh.. we're not surviving are we" But at the same time both of them try to stay positive for each other as If to not scare the other partner which is both sweet and depressimg as fuck
I think the distorted comic panels after the blast are meant to resemble a photo of a woman who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, where the pattern of her kimono was burned into her skin. Horrifying stuff. I don't know if the comic did this but in the film Jim actually brings this exact example up whilst he's preparing for the war
It is brought up in the comic as well. Jim mentions wanting to wear a white shirt specifically because he doesn't want "stripes" burnt into his skin and he mentions the lady.
@@dani_drawzzThe 'shadows' were the utterly carbonised remains of people blasted onto surfaces. Damn horrific. At least they didn't last long enough to suffer much if at all.
12:45 I know this is just visual explanation for the wife blowing the dandelions, but with the theme of the story, it feels like imagery of a structure being blown away by the nuclear shockwave as if its made of nothing.
The part that most gets me is when Jim asks Hilda if she's wearing lipstick and she says she is when we know she had just been puking up blood. This is a great video but the film is even darker than comes across here.
38:58 made me start tearing up. I honestly think that at this point in the movie they both knew what was going on, they both knew they were dying, but they didn't want to upset the other one. They each wanted the other to go peacefully in their sleep. smiling until the very end. So they still weakly joke and laugh as they climb into their own bodybags, with the kind of lighthearted tone of a loving couple. It even sounded like something I would've heard my own grandpa say.
I literally just watched this today. There is actually a line in it where they comment on there being a smell of burning and roast dinners, and you realise they’re smelling people burning
Just watching it gives me a weird and deep fear more than being sad, its so well made its making me feel fearful on the inside knowing this is very very possible.
So I did say a bit of this on the original but I'll say a bit more here. In the end credits, 'M.A.D' is spelled out with Morse code. They directly talk about it earlier on, but this I see as confirmation that the worst case scenario did occur. And as noted by Water Wave, this place is far out from London. We can assume that London was the direct target. So this wasn't an attempt to destroy military bases or strike stockpiles of weaponry. This was to eliminate as many people as possible. So no doubt the UK immediately returned fire, as would any allies...everything is gone. No TV. No radio. In the end there's just this little Morse code message, like there's at least one poor soul out there trying to warn anyone else who's still listening what's happened. 'M.A.D'. Over and over. Basically saying "everything is gone. Everything has been destroyed. The worst has come".
@@davidj.thompson It is fairly densely populated. I mean the U.S has a lot of people but there are places with wide swaths of uninhabited land. The UK meanwhile is kind of crowded. If someone wanted to do as much damage as possible that’s a tempting target. You get more deaths and more destruction with less firepower.
I've seen this movie with my parents who grew up in the 80s, it's utterly heartbreaking. They're so sweet, it just ruins you When she said she had collected the rainwater I screamed "NO!" at the screen, and by the time it got to the paper bags I was in tears.
I was just watching the video and afterwards I spent a good minute crying for this elderly couple that I didn't know, let alone have never actually watched. This is like, the saddest I've ever been in years. Last time I felt like this was when I was like, 7-9 years old
There's something so unknowingly terrifying to me about that picture of James in the thumbnail. It's like I can hear the dying, desperate tone in his voice, while having to look at that...I don't know what it is, but it fills me with dread
What is even darker is that at the end of the credits, there is morse code for M.A.D (mutually assured destruction), and at the rate and distance between the beeps, it sounds automated
I'm convinced a lot of the advice in those old nuclear survival instruction booklets were just a placebo, the people writing them knew full well none of it would actually help people ride out a nuclear attack. Like, telling kids to hide under their school desk? Staying inside for only a couple weeks? It had to have been just to keep people calm
It could be true. But at the same time It's really all you could do. Like getting low to the ground if you are in an open field with barely any shelter and covering your head and neck It's all you could do. It's either you die in the blast with almost certain death or a small chance of survival. But then again, he did say that the lucky ones were the ones who died in the blast.
I'm sorry to tell you this but.. there is a difference between radioactivity and irradiation, one is significantly less likely to harm you. You can eat an irradiated fruit, not a radioactive one, that's why going outside in only a few weeks would be okay.
Over here, it's fairly common knowledge that 'duck and cover' was 100% a societal control mechanism . I actually thought this was common knowledge in the US as well these days! If people thought they were helpless in the event of a nuclear attack, they would act - whether to demand an end to the cold war, to protest the government, or to react in the various chaotic ways people do when feeling powerless. But when people are told there is something they have direct control over - a small way to make themselves safe? They become more placid and easier to control. That was exactly the plan. The measures only need to feel 'just plausible enough' for people to believe in them.
This has to be the most stereotypically British film imaginable, in the best possible way. The combination of the sort of naïvely optimistic, dutiful patriotism of the main characters and the extremely bleak, nihilistic scenario they're placed in gives it this cynical yet touching aura that I've only ever seen in British media.
patriotism has been such a large part of our culture and media it's become sort of a joke, the idea of naïvely following the government's ideals and going to war for your country is practically impossible for the younger generations, yet for the older ones it's second-nature.
This is probably one of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen. Something like "A Serbian film" just isn't disturbing to me, because it's just so over the top and trying way too hard to be shocking, but stuff like this is based in reality, it's something that has happened before and can happen again, and that's terrifying.
@@tusk5291 A Serbian film is widely considered to be the most disturbing movie ever made because of a scene where someone fucks a baby. The whole thing is just shocking for the sake of it. Threads is a movie where a nuclear bomb is dropped on the UK city of Sheffield, and it goes on to show the aftermath. Kind of similar to When the wind blows I guess, but it's live action.
One of the reasons I think they weren’t really scared of the bombs at the beginning is similar to how ppl were during the Hawaii ICBM crisis. A lot of ppl didn’t panic. Some said they didn’t bc they knew that there was simply nothing they could do. They just accepted that no matter what they did, they were going to die. Thankfully it was just a test but it showed a lot of how ppl would react to learning about an attack on their city or town
i remember studying this in school. The thing i always took from it was the love story. The way that, when the world ends, they just want to be together. The way he sees his wife as beautiful even as she falls apart always made me cry.
My 5th grade class studied 'Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes', about a girl who survived the Japanese nuclear bombs but died from the effects later.
1:38 I think the cover art is so interesting the fact that they have literally turned their backs on the danger behind them says so much about the characters typically “turning your back” on something means to reject it which could be applied here saying that they reject the idea that their government would let this happen but it could also mean that they are ignoring it they have literally turned away from the truth of what is happening to them and their small town and as the problem gets bigger it slowly sneaks up on them and they will not be ready when it finally arrives
This reminds me alot of "Grave of The Fireflies", tho that one hits me harder bc children are involved. You're just watching these lovable characters wither away under forces beyond their control but very much man-made. Unlike a natural disaster, their fate was completely preventable and that fact just fills you with frustration and bitterness. it definitely gets their messages across
@@CannibalisticRapscallion But Barefoot Gen ends - Spoilers - on a slightly more hopeful but still very bittersweet note. Grave and When the Wind Blows are just heartbreaking.
Dude you’re so right, watching sieta take care of setsuko the entire movie only to have her die in his arms is what broke me . I think the biggest heart break was seita knowing what was going on the entire time but trying to protect setsuko. Real sad movie, cry every time I watch it.
I always thought the son acted like that to his parents because the son knew that nuclear war meant death, no survival. So he thought there was no point in worrying about getting things together
It kills me knowing that these people could've survived if they had just thought on their own accord instead of listening to the manual. They had everything they needed, food, water, shelter, they could've lived, and likely would've.
Would they, though? Or would it have just been a longer death? Look at the devastation, the implication that this was, indeed, Mutually Ensured Destruction
@@GeoRazer True, but many of our fellow humans are often unable to discern fact from fiction these days. This is concerning, and the reason why I often point it out. It is similar to increasing examples of people who believe that Jesus spoke English, and was also fair haired. 🙃
I’m a fellow American, I thank you very much, Water Wave for uploading this masterpiece of a analysis, you have made me start collecting Raymond Briggs’s work. I mostly try to get the Hamish Hamilton hardcovers cause I love that UK feel. I collect the more obscure ones too he’s made like The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman. For an example on how many I’ve collected here’s them all… When the Wind Blows- Hamish Hamilton 1982 Hardcover Gentleman Jim- Hamish Hamilton 1980 Hardcover. The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman- Little Brown 1982 Hardcover (American) Ethel & Ernest- Johnathan Cape 1999 Hardcover Fungus the Bogeyman: PLOP UP BOOK- Hamish Hamilton 1982 Hardcover The Bear- Random House 1994 Hardcover (American) The Adventures of Bert- 2001 Farrar, Straus and Giroux Hardcover ( American ) Unlucky Wally: Twenty Years On! 1989 Hamish Hamilton Hardcover The Man- 1992 Random House Hardcover (American) The Complete Father Christmas- FC 1973 FCGOH 1975 complete 1978 Hamish Hamilton Hardcover Fee Fi Fo Fum- 1966 Coward Mc-Cann Hardcover UG: Boy Genius of The Stone Age- 2001 Alfred A. Knopf Hardcover (American) Cor! And that’s all of my books by Raymond, I own. Quite a lot of UK ones, I’m collecting more, soon! THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO!
@@lindsaypollock597 Yes, Indeed he was a Beautiful and talented Illustrator, I love how in his later books he never Rushed his illustrations which is a great example of his effort and work.
I saw this in Primary School in the 90s as well as reading the comic book. Its always stayed with me, as has the memory of a classroom of 8-9 year olds pretending that they are not crying and failing pretty miserably. If I remember rightly though, the teacher sacked off the rest of the lessons we were supposed to do and just let us play/draw/have fun for the rest of the day.
@@a.s.raiyan2003-4 Because despite the wall having recently fallen and the Soviet Union collapsed, nuclear proliferation was still on going. And as such they wanted to impart the best lesson in regards to nuclear weapons and given that the two characters could readily be identified with as my grandparents generation it drove that lesson home. And I personally do not fault them at all, what's an afternoon of sobbing Vs a lesson that remains with them their entire life?
@@carebear8655 I think you are incorrect as that's exactly who it was intended for. It's hardly even a radical idea, prior to Disney purchasing and repackaging virtually every fable going, they were significantly darker in tone, with the protagonists almost always meeting with a terrible end. They were quite effective at teaching their associated lessons. Wrapping children up in bubble wrap generally speaking leaves them ill prepared for the rigours of reality, and let's be frank, crying is basically nothing, none of us were harmed, none of us were scarred, but I am still able to clearly recall the message from that cartoon over thirty years later. So what you think about it is largely irrelevant, it was and is effective.
@@NeggieKnight the idea of your own grandparents slowly and irreconcilably dying wouldn't have made you cry at such an age? If not I would question your emotional make up to be frank.
I HAVE seen this movie, actually...as a child, no less! I'm an 80s kid, and in a pre-Simpsons, pre-Akira world, the people responsible for tv programming in Western countries still thought that a movie or show being animated automatically meant that it was kids' stuff. They put this on during the afternoon, when they'd usually show kid-friendly cartoons. I don't remember if this was before or after the Chernobyl disaster, but it was sorta around that time. Needless to say, it seriously f*cked me up.
@@Hp-xk2dwReality checks are important, but it's also important to be like, "reality check incoming, shit's gonna get DARK' otherwise you're just hurling a cinder block at a kid's squishy little head and yelling "THINK FAST!"
As an 80s kid myself, it seemed all too common to get caught off guard by traumatising cartoons, like Watership Down, Plague Dogs or seeing Aslan getting shaved and stabbed in the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe. But this was another level. It left me with anxiety issues for a couple of years at least.
Me too! But I didn't see it in the 80s, I saw it a couple years ago when I was maybe around 13. One of my top films of all time. Where the wind blows is incredible.
The most terrifying example I can think of from radiation is the case of, I believe this is his name, Hisashi Ouchi, wendigoon has a video about it. Basically he suffered a freak accident at a nuclear power plant in Japan and his body decomposed while he lived through the whole thing
And just like jim in this story, Hisashi was incredibly optimistic to his wife and child, saying positive things about how thankful he was that he had them. He went trough the worst pain imaginable but did not want to worry his family. Kind of a devastating video to watch (but really good!)
I know the video you're talking about and yeah that was tough to get through. The lengths the medical staff went through to try to save him or help him pass peacefully was incredibly commendable. If it were me though I think I'd have preferred if they just put me down with drugs.
yes, he survived 83 days of his body effectively rotting, once he did die they did an autopsy and what they found was even though his body was utterly destroyed- his heart was fine. it had evidence of stress but in the end it was intact and no one can explain why.
I started watching this video to put on for background noise while working on an art project. Now, I’d NEVER heard of this. As you started talking about how it was based off a graphic novel, i paused the video and went to go read it myself. Finished the whole thing in 20 minutes. Never before has anything affected me like that comic. I feel like someone’s grabbed me and shaken me very hard, and I’m stuck with that after-effect impact buzz for longer than I’d like. I’ve been on the verge of tears since I finished it. I go back to the video, unpause, and try to open my art program again - and I just can’t. How can I go back to business as usual after that, paired with seeing what I just watched in motion on my screen, in little handcrafted sets and voice acting? The pit in my stomach is unlike anything as i watch the movie play out, because now I KNOW exactly what’s going to happen. This is an excellent video, and your narration and presentation is wonderful. I just wanted to share my own experience as I’m watching. I’m gonna be thinking about this story for days after this. Thank you for sharing it.
No doubt 20 minutes you will never forget. I read When The Wind Blows as a child, and even now at 48, I hear the title and feel the tears gather in my eyes.
this movie deeply traumatized me as a little kid. remember watching this on tv in 1990/91, and cuz it was a "cartoon" it must be funny and interesting. i clearly remember that i was terrible afraid of tab water and didnt drank it for some time out of fear getting radiation sickness and losing hair/dying
this is probably one of the saddest videos ive seen. they even stayed happy when they were rotting from radiation, and the nuclear blast, and they always seemed positive, this is a great story and i would love to watch the movie. it really puts into detail what nuclear war is really like.
A heartbreaking little detail I noticed. Throughout the entire movie, James is always reassuring Hilda that everything is okay, and explains everything going on around them to normalize it and keep her calm. And in the end, James' mind is going from the radiation, becoming more doubtful. In their final minutes, Hilda is the one to reassure James and convinces him its safer to get in the bags. They balance each other through the story, even in the end.
He very clearly knows the reality of their situation, and he demonstrates this knowledge over and over. But the most damning evidence of this is when he panics while trying to get her to go into their "shelter", saying "Come back you stupid b**** and get in the shelter!". This clearly demonstrates that he had an understanding of the gravity of the situation (in the movie, at least).
He had the understanding of the gravity of the situation that if Hilda did *not* do what was written in the government pamphlet, she would be at risk. Early on in the video he mentions that these two grew up during the Second World War, and they were trained to survive normal bombings. He knew the bomb posed a threat, but treated it as a normal bomb. The moment it had gone off, in his mind, they were safe again, and Hilda could leave the “shelter sanctuary” without posing a danger to themselves, even though the pamphlet said to wait 48 hours. To me, he clearly did not understand the gravity of nuclear warfare, and that is why he was so scared for Hilda to be out in the house while the bomb detonated, but not very scared at all to even leave the house afterwards.
@@benten2462 "It will be over in a flash." The biggest clue for me is that they don't seem to actually know what fallout is. At some point they discuss it and conclude it would look like snow (I think the PSAs used a sort of dust/snow effect). And in very large amounts, with a lot of debris, you might be able to see the dust that's mixed with the radionuclides as it falls down. You might see the black rain that results as the 'cloud' produced by the explosion ends up 'raining' stuff out. But for something like this, the spread would likely be really wide. And considering the house was shook by the shockwave, debris and dust wouldn't seem out of place. They don't see the 'snow', they don't see the dust as anything out of the ordinary, so seemingly it's 'not dangerous'.
This horrified me beyond belief when I originally watched it. I’m a Brit who lives in the countryside. Everywhere in this film looks exactly like my home. I have an extremely negative relationship with all of my grandparents, but the old couple still struck a chord. Amazing video dude, shook me so much my cockatiel was worried.
I just finished watching the movie and I realized it's impossible such an event happened in the Uk because y'all would have alredy done a thousand films about it
There’s an Iron Maiden song “When the Wild Wind Blows” closely based on this, but the bomb doesn’t go off, an earthquake happens but the couple assume it was the bomb and take poison. Fun fact- their song the Trooper is actually about the charge of the light brigade mentioned at the end of this video
I love that song so much. The ending and the way they build up to it is so well done. The fact that they would have survived if they had waited longer always gets me. This story shows how easy it is to make bad choices when faced with the worst.
I’m a maiden fan and I don’t think I’ve ever heard When the Wild Wind Blows but i just went to listen to it and it was a great song. I never thought a song could have a plot twist but here we are
Wow, another couple in the opposite situation; taking it too seriously and needlessly dooming themselves, whereas here, they're ignorant of their situation and it kills them.
What?! Ironically I was just thinking about this video and you pinpointing the moment he realizes he may have misread the handbook and doomed them even though they were doomed either way.
I actually have seen when the wind blows. I saw it in school back in the day. It was shown in my English class and i fell in love with it. I loved the gritty nature of it and its animation style. I immediately bought a dvd to watch it on then. Im not entirely sure why he showed it to us in a school, but while we watched it and took notes, I bought the book and showed it to the teacher. I decided to let him keep the comic before i graduated. Im pretty sure he still has it
@akyureii9392 I guess it is originally an anti-war movie made to scare kids and make sure the next generation won't bomb the planet, so i guess it kinda makes sense for it to have been shown in school. Everyone else in the class was all depressed and freaked out by it, but I just adored its style and message. Like the loss of hope and genuinely disturbing scenes like where they drank fallout.
The ending of this movie has to be one of the eeriest things I’ve seen. The lack of color, the way the bags are animated, their voices. It genuinely creeps me out a little bit
It's absolutely terrifying that this couple could have been my grandparents, and their children my parents affected by nuclear war. My grandfather was born in 1932, he had a bomb shelter bed exactly like the one shown in 10:20 . My mother (born 1970) also told me that during the cold war and all its crises and how she felt about them. During the eighties, when she was just over ten, she told me that "I went to bed every night terrified that the Russians or the Americans were going to ring the bell, and I spent hours praying they wouldn't before I went to sleep." The idea that her prayers would go unanswered in a world like this is enough to make me cry.
I know that this does the theme a great service of being a poster boy for how disastrous nuclear fallout is but I cannot help myself from giggling every time you showed the clip of the husband calling his wife a stupid bitch
Honestly, I've finished seeing the Fallout TV show, based on the game series, and made me think that the apocalypse after a nuclear war is "cool" but then it's stuff like this that makes me remember the horror of reality.
That's desensitization fer ya. Look at what slasher movies do to people's perception of violence. When it's on screen, they smile, laugh, & joke at it, forgetting that horrors like it happen daily all over the world.
The Fallout Show is just window dressing. By based on the game series. You mean a superficial retconning of Fallout 1, 2, and New Vegas. With a terrible story full of plot holes and contrivances. Then, given a generous coating of Fallout 4/76 esthetics and references to all the games. Just an empty shell of a TV series. Radiation in Fallout 1 and 2 was the creeping death. The wasteland was full of enemies and mutant animals. Some of the latter could inflict Radiation poisoning on the character.
I used to freak out whenever i got radiation sickness in Fallout and I can only image how much more scary it will be in real life. I also love the sound of Geiger counters to the point I'll listen to them to fall asleep but that sense of dread you feel whenever you hear one worsens the more aggressive they sound.
Howdy! So this is a re upload of my latest video which was manually claimed and blocked, re-edited to use as little footage from When The Wind Blows as possible, so fingers crossed it stays up this time and anyone who only got to watch half can finish it, and thanks so much to anyone who watched the original or if you’re here for round 2 💙
I stopped the video a few minutes in to seek out the movie. I felt such dread when they started happily collecting rain water and drinking it. All those pamphlets did was tell them how to build a shelter, but it didn't educate them on anything after. They could have collected food and water sooner, they could have hidden in the cellar, they could have prepared better.... but they weren't properly taught, and they had to watch each other waste away. And the way they so casually went outside of their shelter.... made me wonder if they were already suffering side-effects and couldn't think properly.
I think the pamphlets were never meant to help them survive. They were meant to help them do something vaguely constructive so there wouldn't be mass panic in the streets and, if some parts of the country were left untouched, eventually clean up crew could reach them and find something to help identify who had been there. The part of the population knowledgable enough to realise that sat around and partied their last bit of time away (as was their son in the book) There was nothing for the after because if the bombs actually dropped there wouldn't be an 'after', any survivors of the blast radius wouldn't last long enough for survival tips to matter. What'd be left would be too bleak and depressing to put into a pamphlet for giving the population 'hope of surviving'. They were a bandaid for a third degree burn.
love the fact that op is appreciative of the artistic choices that made the film slightly different than the book. its not wrong, just had different goals.
There’s a great short story that’s kinda along the lines of this movie It’s called “there will come soft rains” (1950) by Ray Bradbury Set in the future of 2026, It’s about the aftermaths of an atomic annihilation which the “smart house” still carries on the daily tasks despite the house being empty and the city being destroyed. It eventually ends with the house going mad due to a fire, and eventually destroys itself. In the end, the house is in ruins just like everything else. Nothing survives.
Oh man wasn’t in the right head space to learn about this movie. In a long term relationship with a kid on the way. This and Threads just an existential nightmare, one of my biggest fears. The thought of having to look at my partner or my future child in the face and tell them its alright in this situation fills me with a sense of dread as heavy as cement. Don’t know if I’d have the strength.
One thing that I noticed is that after Jim calls Hilda a Stupid Fool, they argue about Jim not having mannners and Jim wanting Hilda to shut up so he can listen to the instructions on the radio. I listened to the radio version with Peter Sallis in it and, when I listened closely, realised that in the story the radio says for them to stay indoors and no matter what, don't leave your house. If they'd just not argued and listened to the radio, perhaps their sickness could've been prevented. Although, I don't think it would've helped a lot. Their shelter looked pretty inefficient.
19:30 the airplane sound you hear is actually an effect called a phaser! They probably applied a phaser to the drum recording and that was the result. Its a little box with knobs so you can change the rate of the sounds changing and such. Very neat
You mention at the end of the movie/book that the elderly man quotes The Charge of the Light Brigade, but it's worth noting around the @8:18 mark that he says, "ours is not to reason why..." That line is quoted from the poem. "Ours is not to reason why, Ours is but to do and die."
This actually scares me, not because of the visuals but this actually happens and frightens me it’s just the thought of me and my family the thought of never seeing my loved ones. Maybe it’s just the thought of death in general, or the fact that it will never be the same afterward. Like why can’t we all live in peace and come together instead of just killing eachother.
I started tearing up like 20 minutes in and probably should’ve stopped, but for some horrifying reason I felt like I needed to finish their story. The horror comes from the realism
I feel the couple in this story is a representation of the "keep calm and carry on" mentality of ww2 generation Britons. The charming, hopeful British spirit that lasted them through the blitz failed to stand against the terrifying devastation of the nuclear bomb.
This plays into another story about Raymond Brigg's own parents 'Ethel and Earnest' (and equally sweet book about a quintessential british couple and an equally heartrending ending) and his feeling of detachment from his parents due to the differences in their way of seeing the world.
One time my Horror Fiction teacher asked us all what our favorite horror movies was, and I kinda was torn between giving an actual horror movie thats my favorite, The Thing, and the movie that actually horrified me because of the historical context I was aware of before I saw it, Come and See, which if you know, You Know,
It was it's own standalone class considered as a fine arts, it was only for seniors and taught by one of our english teachers that only did freshmen and senior lol@@HannibalTorrance
We watched this at school. I grew up with the vague threat of nuclear war, Protect and Survive, my Dad was in the fire brigade and had a place in the local bunker. I remember asking at school why a door leaned up against the wall would stop fallout etc, not understanding how it was clearly just a measure to keep the public distracted and not rioting in the immediate aftermath of being nuked. Like being told to wrap up and label dead bodies, as if a collapsed society full of corpses would be keeping records. It was my childhood, so I've got to admit I'm oddly nostalgic for the cold war era despite it all - anyone else?
Little known fact, the soundtrack is a combined effort from David Bowie and Roger Waters. In the time Pink Floyd was disbanding both Waters and Gilmore had strong anti nuclear / anti war themes in their music. See "Two suns in the sunset", PF, the final cut and Gilmores "cruise" on his debut solo album.
this movie is a great example of an adaptation done right, in my opinion. it takes the original message and amplifies it by utilizing strengths only the medium of animation has, combining live-action, stop-motion and 2d animation in interesting ways and other stuff like sound design for example
What makes the bomb shelter sad is the fact that when the government was giving out things saying how to survive a nuke attack, everyone knew it was crap, and that nothing could save you from nukes, but the civilians wanted anything to comfort their fears.
A note on the final bit that James recites: While it does end with the poem, what James is trying to recite is Psalm 23, a very popular Bible passage to remember in times of distress, grief, and hardship, reassuring that though one walks through the valley of the shadow of death, God is with them, and will protect them. But through his weariness and on the brink of death, he can’t remember it, and drifts off into the poem. For those who skipped Sunday school, here’s the passage James tries to recite: “1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”
I watched it twice first time I cried at the sad parts second I mostly cried during the happy parts cause I knew what would happened read the book a couple times still just a sad
@@SC3N3S0PH_. I watched a video on it before I watched it myself. So I knew what was going to happen the whole time. And everything just stung more and more
not at all gut wrenchingly stressful to know that ensured existence of our countries is being maintained by the longest and most intense game of chicken on earth.
Another important thing about radiation is wether or not the bomb was air burst or ground burst. If the bomb explodes when hitting the ground then it kicks up a lot more material that will become radioactive. Compared to an air burst which will kick up less material (especially less dirt)
@@Biggerman159explosions on the ground makes the land uninhabitable for millions of years and if they use “dirty” bombs it’s even longer but most nukes use airburst nowadays
I just came back from watching the movie, and I gotta say... It was crazy realistic. With the exception of characters appearing then fading away, I saw that the interactions were very much like a cartoony old couple. The reactions to things felt real. And the cut scenes are astounding.
I remember watching this when it was first shown on UK TV. I was a hot headed, cocky teenager and it reduced me to a blubbering wreck. Such a powerful films that deserves a lot more attention.
I actually have seen this film, and I've even read the comic, and it's so sad. When politicians die, I smile, but when normal people living normal lives die, I feel so miserable. One thing I'll add, knowing the author based the comic on his parents makes me the most sad, because it reminds me of my mum and dad and their two dogs.
I felt like he had an idea and was trying to protect duck. People's faces don't usually decay, and chemical weapons had been used in WW1, so he would have some idea.
If memory serves, I think James quotes Charge of the Light Brigade earlier too when he says, "Ours is not to reason why". The line that follows after is, "Ours is but to do and die"
That line "ours not to reason why" has become proverbial, not intended to fully invoke the poem. The impression I get is that it comes back to him and he realizes, yes, its exactly like that.
One scene worth mentioning is when Jim and Hilda smell what they think is roasted meat and Hilda assumes that it's coming from people having dinner in their homes...while the camera pans over what vaguely resemble the skeletal remains of a dog and a person, before transitioning to the wreckage of a small city, where the camera stops on a melted teddy bear.
So dark
Why is that worth mentioning
@@iamwhoyousayiam6773 Because it shows the audience how devastating the effects of the bomb were, confirming the implication that few survived the blast, and showing the full extent of how horrific nuclear war truly is.
@@iamwhoyousayiam6773not to mention the smell of roasted meat that they're smelling is likely the smell of burnt human flesh and since the couple is seemingly in a completely remote area that also implies just how many people are dead
@iamwhoyousayiam6773 why are you asking dumb questions?
The paper bags is one of the best foreshadowings I’ve seen. It’s something subtle, something you wouldn’t notice at first, but realize later on. This movie really captures the real situation, and does it so good.
105 likes no comments let me fix that . but yes the movie does capture the situation
The minute they mentioned the bags I knew they were body bags. I knew they would be dead, entirely.
When they put on the bag i couldnt help but be eerie and felt like it was a moment of shock because of the bags being a real thing instead of silly 2d
I at first thought they would use the bags to store their clothes in after the blast. After the bomb detonates and you reach your shelter, it is advised to undress, shower, and put possible contaminated clothes into a plastic bag. The grim realisation didn't drop on me until he started talking about body bags...
RIP RAT
One thing that just stuck with me was how they had a cellar. Its horrifying to know they could've had a chance to survive.
I was shocked when they didn't use the cellar as shelter it just made me heart break
Why did he not use the cellar then 😭💔 The guide book must have said something around these lines, that if you have a cellar, it's best to go in there, right? Goddamnit Tom :(
I feel like this would have been worse if they used the cellar I feel like they would've just starved to death in an even worse ending. I don't think there was any chance of them making it
Good thing then it was all fake. Moving along...
@@paulpennington-mv7rtand yet nuclear war is a very real thing. It’s a thing that causes extreme destruction and pain.
I remember being in hawaii when that "ballistic missle imbound" warning came through. We were at my families house where we would have died no matter what. I had my young daughter with me and we just played candyland and hung out laughing as a family because at that point there would have been no point to try and hide.
This is kind of a strange thing to say to a stranger but I’m glad the alarm was false and you and your daughter made it out ok. Thank you for making those moments non scary for her.
My children played chess as my precious Mama passed to heaven. We laughed and sang. We hugged and embraced the last moments, as they were near. ❤ She passed with her husband, my Dad of 48 years, sisters, kids and Grandchildren. It's powerful. I remember when that happened to y'alls in Hawaii. ❤ Best wishes from California.
Damn... I've seen footage of that incident, and read articles on it, but to be **in** Hawaii at that time must be terrifying, you're amazing for helping your daughter through this, who probably didn't even know what was going on.
That moment when Hilda says "should we have used the cellar, dear?" just made my jaw drop and I nearly pulled my own hair out, mentally screaming "noooooo you poor, silly couple!"
NOOO LITERALLY, I was SO devastated when it was revealed they had one
It's worse when you realize it's because the booklet didn't say to.
@@nekotyrant1629 the booklet said so, but it was focused on sheltering the middle room. so old people did what was most focused on - just like in real life
They would have died eventually anyway. The cellar would only prolong it and how long would you stay couped up in the cellar...
@@unfortunatebeamThere was actually a “half decent” chance at survival if they had followed the rules we, in the future now know. But that? That’s the point. That’s the entire idea of the film, the pure negligence for the true people affected by these government decisions.
We know now how to prepare for survival and in worst scenarios how to prepare for death. The couple were woefully underprepared and under informed, but had so many opportunities to possibly survive. That’s the tragedy.
The “grainy white spots” that float around near the end of the movie could be a nod to when they’re wondering about what fallout looks like when they first step outside after the bomb had gone off. They’re speculating and the husband says something to the tune of “I reckon it would look like snow”. My guess is the white specks on the screen and to show they’re both fully aware at that point that they’ve been exposed to the fallout
I'd think also reminiscent of what radiation does to film stock,but that's meta for the viewer
Looking at the blu Ray copy I own, the white grainy spots are there before because of the grainy photos of the CELs that make up the animations. It is just the era, but its a very good comparison.
@@WarningWaveEAS If they're on your blu-ray copy then obviously the white specks were always meant to be there.
@@unfortunatebeam no, what I mean is, is that throughout the film, they're there, even before the bomb
Radiation causes a static-like effect to video.
Looking at the image of Jim singing “smile” while slowly dying is so haunting and strangely beautiful with how hopeful he is, it’s enough to make me wanna cry. I think the bags becoming realistic is very interesting. I see it as not just reality setting in, but also the idea that they are becoming apart of the background, as if just another miscellaneous object destroyed in the blast.
I LOVE this interpretation. How devastating. They’re now as faceless as the victims you hear about in some far off country.
It disturbed me so much I didnt go to school for 2 weeks
This reminds me of a sentence i saw
One death is a tragedy,a million is a statistic
@@cubebutpro298 Interestingly, a quote said by Stalin himself.
a part*
Thats the most terrifying and sad thing I've ever seen. No sugar coating, no ending before the hardest parts, but fading into death.
Have you seen grave of the fireflies?
@@aarishowton8037 it was so sad
This is basically the cartoon version of "Threads".
I think there's definitely a point where Jim realizes that they're a lot worse off than he lets on. The fact that they bring up the ID's again after getting in the potato sacks is pretty clear proof to me that they know they're dying, and have understood the true purpose of the bags.
She definitely realizes it, she's the one who suggests it and then asks about the IDs. He recites the Light Brigade poem, and she tells him to stop...but she never tells him he's wrong. Just "No more...". She knows he's right. She just doesn't want that to be her last thought. "No. No more..."
@@dr.altoclef9255yeah and she feels uncomfort of the feeling of her son definitely dying and the feeling that she knows she is witbering away
@@dr.altoclef9255I don’t get the paper bag thing
@@Medicandarchamedes Basically its a body bag. If someone died in the shelter you were to just like, cover with a sheet or put into a makeshift body bag and leave their ID with them until medical help arrived.
@@dr.altoclef9255Oh… that’s dark
On the subject of their son, I'd actually wager that their denial plays a part here. They know, they have a gut feeling, that everything is so much worse than they're deluding themselves. By not mentioning their son, it means neither one of them has to face the very likely situation that he is now dead.
That could explain most of their denial. Deep inside they know he’s dead and they’re doomed, but to not bring up or think about the horrifying subject they still just remain positive and happy that they literally are gonna die.
@@gamingwithgavin1283 Yeah, at the end Hilda tells Jim not to say that poem, because that's just a reminder of the reality of the whole situation. She never says he's wrong. Just "No. No more." Like "Please. Don't remind me."
There’s a slim chance he could hav4 caught a plane and escaped but it’s unlikely
When the wind blows is technically a sequel to the graphic novel Gentleman Jim. It stars the same couple but younger. Jim is a toilet cleaner dissatisfied with his position in life, so he dreams up a more exciting life. All his attempts at chasing his passions end up backfiring, and he learns to be happy with what he has. This story certainly recontextualizes that ending.
@@carebear8655Just because that’s the kind of story he likes to tell doesn’t mean that he’s not. Besides, he died of pneumonia last year.
oh my hod that's the one i read! i remember reading one like when the wind blows but without the whole nuclear bit, and also remember the toilet part, but i've never been able to find it until now!
@@carebear8655Briggs was a nice guy but he had a lot of sadness in his life; his mother had dementia, and he lost both his parents 2 years before his own wife to cancer after years of helping her live with her mental illness. His stories and books have dark undertones, but also a lot of joy and moving morals. I love his work!
"We will all go together when we go" is a Tom Lehrer song from the early '60s; great choice to highlight the generational difference between father and son.
I remember it being said by so many adults " When it comes we shall all meet outside hold hands and go together" it was a scary thing to hear especially when you're a child so full of life. What with all the other nuclear war films and AIDs PSA's they were quite scary for us so must have been worse for the adults who understood the repercussions of all this.....now I'm starting to agree that the world is ready for a great reset😂
Its horrifying because the couples personalities have traits that most peoples grandparents have. They also dress the same as a lot of our grandparents. Its hard to watch this and not think of your grandparents in this scenario, clueless, patriotic, and happy despite the most sinister thing imaginable happening to them. I won't forget this for a while.
Took the words out of my mouth, they really reminded me of mine, as sad as it is that they both passed away already, part if me is glad that if it ever comes to this (which lets face it, fairly possible in the next 2+ years) they wont experience this anymore..
yeah, that's what makes this infinitely more upsetting.
One of my grandparents shares a name with them. Hits even harder.
Being elderly doesn’t automatically mean you are “clueless”. Old people were themselves once young.
They didn't have the information or access to it when they were young like us, they aren't clueless more outdated if you would mind my bluntness
I was born smack in the middle of the Cold War, and my parents, for some awful reason, got me this book when I was like 11.
Scared the ever living stuffing out of me and set up a persistent fear of nuclear war that took me years to cope with.
Funny enough when I realized that we were within the flash radius of a military base, the idea of instant painless death made it a lot easier to cope. The ending of this book, while well written with a lovely soft art style, is literally nightmare fuel.
How did you cope with it
@@kyle.sterritt I kind of developed a grim fatalism and learned to repair electronics. Something I figured would be valuable in the aftermath.
By the age of 14 I was making decent side money fixing tube TVs and car radios and not particularly scared of anything because I had been so scared of nuclear destruction for so long even that just became a dull roar of generalized anxiety.
Dam. Nice job learning to cope with it.
@arglebargle42 they told you to cope and you took it seriously lmao
…what the fuck!?
When Jim yells “Come back you stupid bitch and get in the shelter!” that’s meant to shock you in purpose. It also serves as a tone shift for the movie, changing from this calm and casual day for Jim and Hilda, to something that will shock you and possibly have you covering your mouth, which is what I did when Jim said those 10 words.
That caught me off guard and made me burst out in laughter.
I remember the book didn’t have that in it but when I heard it in the movie I also couldn’t help but laugh I wasn’t expecting that 😭
I never laughed so hard bc I figured that it didn't have any curse words lol
The word is powerful word "come back you stupid bitch"
I remember casually watching the movie back in the 2010s, getting more and more invested in their story. And that scene left me both gobsmacked and with a damning realisation that shit was now REALLY going down. Obviously it was a distressing situation and it was conveyed/understood very well in that context.
I'm constantly reminded of the Hitchhikers Guide.
"Should we lie down, or put bags on our heads?"
"If you like."
"Will it help?"
"Probably not."
I literally started sobbing bc of this. 😔 it makes me feel more sadness for these poor old couple.
Him not remembering what the bag was for and them coming back to them at the end is one of the most powerful pieces of media ive ever seen.
Oh please
@@BigJackMackshhh
Six hundred, sixty sixth like :)
I don't get it I'm dum
@@Amnionicthe bags are used to cover/store their dead bodies. pretty dark
"The cake will be burnt", is such a realistic disassociation that people engage in. Worrying about something small instead of the actual traumatic event you're dealing with. Like once one of my pet rats I was very close to had died, and I buried him, and that night it rained, and I started crying because I was thinking "he's out there cold and alone in the rain, my poor baby." He was dead.. he couldn't feel anything, but it was easier for my brain to obsess over the cold and rain and not the fact that he was completely gone forever, something that I was still having trouble processing.
im sorry this made me cry. rest in peace little friend :(
I had the exact same response when I had to let my guinea pig go. It rained that night, and I had to leave her alone in the cold, I couldn't go get her and bring her inside. I couldn't go hold her like she loved. I couldn't give her the treats and veggies she adored. I had no choice but to leave her out there because she was gone. She's dead. But all I could focus on was something small. I just couldn't acknowledge the reality right away. I think it's a very good analogy. Your brain protects you from the most hurtful part as best it can, and focuses on a smaller detail of the pain to process first.
It's not about the bomb, but that while the danger is outside and impending doom is rocketing towards them, her first thought is the cake. Her life, her cake, it's all going to be left behind. Get in the shelter, think about one small thing.
The bomb hits, reality slams in, and now it's over, right? Well, the cake is gone, and wow that was bad, but now the military will fix everything. Everything will be fine. Sure a bomb went off, but it'll be fine, right?
Popper may be outside but it'll be okay. Soon enough I can go back to normal.
It's all so harrowing.
I cried about the same thing when my dog died. It’s so surreal. So sorry for your loss :( 🤍
i had about the same thought process when my grandpa died when i was nine
for context , every year in september there's a week where a fair comes to our town and i've went there since i was really young
since we were all grieving and whatnot , we didn't go to the fair that year
and my dumbass was crying over the FAIR and not my fucking grandfather
and my parents yelled at me and said i cared more about a stupid fair than my grandpa
i was NINE do you think i'd fully accept the gravity of death yet mom (i mean in hindsight i guess i could see where they're coming from , we basically go to funerals like every year)
I had the same thoughts when mom passed. I couldn’t stop thinking how cold it was and how she hated to be cold-kept her house at 80* year round and still kept a blanket on. I guess it was keeping my mind off the real problem of her being gone-but it was almost as bad to obsess over that. I still sometimes get those thoughts when I visit the cemetery.
Im so glad to see a portrayal of a couple in stressful situations where they aren’t fighting. It feels like all we’re ever shown is that even the most perfect relationships fail in the face of sufficient hardship but that’s not true. These two have such a wholesome and beautiful relationship which makes their endurance both inspiring and heartbreaking. And to think that a simple blue pigment could have saved their lives.
Bro calls her a “stupid bitch” lol
What pigment?
@@heliodoro2104 Prussian blue, it grabs radioactive heavy metals and forces them out of the body instead of letting them slowly cook you from the inside.
@@hansstrudel9614 thanks bro
@@hansstrudel9614actually?
My high school had a play about this story and I got to play as Hilda. Seeing it play out on stage and getting to act as a character in the story is truly something I'll never forget experiencing. I was actually feeling bad for the characters and I wanted to tell them "noooo you can't go outside after the bomb!! you can't walk to where the bomb dropped!! don't drink the rain!!" but I couldn't. It felt so surreal that I was acting out my own death in a way. Knowing what was coming but not being able to stop it while having to act oblivious. Truly horrifying.
Did they use the book version or the film version?
@@MSMFurcorn22 most likely the book
@@lizzieziz2681 agreed I don’t think they would’ve said “STUPID BITCH”
I think Hilda knew at the end of the movie that they were dying and for all the comforting Jim did for Hilda, it was Hilda that comforted him as she guided him into the bags and to their deaths with a prayer
That's what moved me the most - how they looked after each other even after the end. In a way, When the Wind Blows is a tragic love story - and considering their relationship is based on the author's parents maybe that's what it's so raw.
@phoebevaughan5095 Same, that's what hit me like a ton of bricks. You can almost picture any loving couple in that situation. Your parents, grandparents, and even yourself. It's just so bleak and touching.
They just want to be happy one last time 😢
Yeah well look how far "thoughts and PRAYERS" got Jim & Hilda!!
Nukes and nuclear energy are a hoax.
“The cake will be burnt!” Also feels like a metaphor for the story taking a darker approach up to this point.
Yeah
Yeah
The Enrichment Center is required to remind you that you will be baked; and then there will be cake.
The world is so sweet like a cake in the movie I think I get that
@@bobthenob400 and the burns on the cake are representation of the destruction after the bomb
I don't think Jim worked it out from the start, but the film does imply that he realises it about 10 mins before the finale. (When he's giving Hilda a hug he says 'It's just the side effects of the Bomb...' and there's a dramatic musical sting while his face seems to show recognition, especially since he knows she can't see it.) Which seems about right for his character.
yeah i think he remembers the poor souls of hiroshima and yagasaki and death of radiation
Jim looks out of the Window .
Can You tell me where I can watch the movie? :C
@@iv4nqit's on tubi.
123movies
Went from “we’re flying in the air” to “we’re dying from the air”
LOL underrated comment
Agreed the snowman is nostalgic for me
It's amazing how a bunch of old men that I didn't vote for could ruin and destroy everything and everyone I know and love by signing a piece of paper.
It isn't humane, is it?
War. Where the young are pawns by the foolishness of the old and bitter
Like Biden , for example? And what he's doing NOW?
@@pkendlersyeah. same with donald trump, ronald reagan, etc
you didnt vote for them but 51 percent did and now you are stuck with the results
The music starting to pick up when Ducks realised her hair is falling out really hurts because it seems to be the point of where they both realise "oh.. we're not surviving are we"
But at the same time both of them try to stay positive for each other as If to not scare the other partner which is both sweet and depressimg as fuck
Timestamp if possible?
Sadly I don't think I have a timestamp for the video, but i do believe i have a time stamp for the actual movie
I love your pfp!!! Woop woop!
@@JackKendaddy_tangerinewhat's the pfp? Is it a reference to something or do u just mean the pan flag.
@@alastor--radiodemon7556 it's hatchet man from insane clown posse (woop woop is an icp reference) with the pan flag behind it
I think the distorted comic panels after the blast are meant to resemble a photo of a woman who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, where the pattern of her kimono was burned into her skin. Horrifying stuff.
I don't know if the comic did this but in the film Jim actually brings this exact example up whilst he's preparing for the war
I remember seeing photos of the bombing aftermath. Shadows were burned into walls, yet no people were left.
It is brought up in the comic as well. Jim mentions wanting to wear a white shirt specifically because he doesn't want "stripes" burnt into his skin and he mentions the lady.
@@dani_drawzzThe 'shadows' were the utterly carbonised remains of people blasted onto surfaces.
Damn horrific. At least they didn't last long enough to suffer much if at all.
Do you know where one could find this photo?
@@MonsterUnderYourBed. Look up, "Kimono Burns", the Atomic Archive has a photo.
12:45 I know this is just visual explanation for the wife blowing the dandelions, but with the theme of the story, it feels like imagery of a structure being blown away by the nuclear shockwave as if its made of nothing.
😮
I never thought about it like that
The part that most gets me is when Jim asks Hilda if she's wearing lipstick and she says she is when we know she had just been puking up blood. This is a great video but the film is even darker than comes across here.
She never said she was wearing lipstick...she said her gums were bleeding and she hasn't worn lipstick in years..
@@BlameItOnMercury Thats likely, I may have remembered that wrong, but it was still very eery and heartbreaking.
38:58 made me start tearing up. I honestly think that at this point in the movie they both knew what was going on, they both knew they were dying, but they didn't want to upset the other one. They each wanted the other to go peacefully in their sleep. smiling until the very end. So they still weakly joke and laugh as they climb into their own bodybags, with the kind of lighthearted tone of a loving couple. It even sounded like something I would've heard my own grandpa say.
That broke me man
@@ahmadmalaki8364same
snowflake
@@LocalNoob_2 what does snowflake have to do with a nuclear explosion 😳
@@LocalNoob_2 also please get out of this video
I literally just watched this today. There is actually a line in it where they comment on there being a smell of burning and roast dinners, and you realise they’re smelling people burning
I don't know why but that specific sentence hurt the soul
@@atomicyeeter1423 it took me a moment and then the sudden realisation hit me and it stayed with me for days
@@lauraholmes2402I’m trying to image what dead people burning would look like
@@Mystery-ball-mappinga charred skeleton
@@Kyle_Reese maybe with some burning flesh left
Just watching it gives me a weird and deep fear more than being sad, its so well made its making me feel fearful on the inside knowing this is very very possible.
So I did say a bit of this on the original but I'll say a bit more here.
In the end credits, 'M.A.D' is spelled out with Morse code. They directly talk about it earlier on, but this I see as confirmation that the worst case scenario did occur. And as noted by Water Wave, this place is far out from London. We can assume that London was the direct target. So this wasn't an attempt to destroy military bases or strike stockpiles of weaponry. This was to eliminate as many people as possible. So no doubt the UK immediately returned fire, as would any allies...everything is gone. No TV. No radio. In the end there's just this little Morse code message, like there's at least one poor soul out there trying to warn anyone else who's still listening what's happened. 'M.A.D'. Over and over. Basically saying "everything is gone. Everything has been destroyed. The worst has come".
That's so dark :(
It might even just be an automated signal on a loop. No one left to send the message even.
It's sad.
Also m.a.d. means mutual assured destruction.
An older film, "The War Game", which was documentary-style, pointed out that the UK would receive more nukes per area than anywhere else.
@@davidj.thompson It is fairly densely populated. I mean the U.S has a lot of people but there are places with wide swaths of uninhabited land.
The UK meanwhile is kind of crowded. If someone wanted to do as much damage as possible that’s a tempting target. You get more deaths and more destruction with less firepower.
I've seen this movie with my parents who grew up in the 80s, it's utterly heartbreaking. They're so sweet, it just ruins you
When she said she had collected the rainwater I screamed "NO!" at the screen, and by the time it got to the paper bags I was in tears.
I was just watching the video and afterwards I spent a good minute crying for this elderly couple that I didn't know, let alone have never actually watched. This is like, the saddest I've ever been in years. Last time I felt like this was when I was like, 7-9 years old
There's something so unknowingly terrifying to me about that picture of James in the thumbnail. It's like I can hear the dying, desperate tone in his voice, while having to look at that...I don't know what it is, but it fills me with dread
same
LITERALLY. I WAS SO HORRIFIED THAT I HAD TI PAUSE WATCHING
What is even darker is that at the end of the credits, there is morse code for M.A.D (mutually assured destruction), and at the rate and distance between the beeps, it sounds automated
I'm convinced a lot of the advice in those old nuclear survival instruction booklets were just a placebo, the people writing them knew full well none of it would actually help people ride out a nuclear attack. Like, telling kids to hide under their school desk? Staying inside for only a couple weeks? It had to have been just to keep people calm
yeah, majority of these survival tips were completely useless. The reality was that living through nuclear fall out scenario was almost next to none.
It could be true.
But at the same time It's really all you could do. Like getting low to the ground if you are in an open field with barely any shelter and covering your head and neck It's all you could do. It's either you die in the blast with almost certain death or a small chance of survival. But then again, he did say that the lucky ones were the ones who died in the blast.
I'm sorry to tell you this but.. there is a difference between radioactivity and irradiation, one is significantly less likely to harm you.
You can eat an irradiated fruit, not a radioactive one, that's why going outside in only a few weeks would be okay.
Over here, it's fairly common knowledge that 'duck and cover' was 100% a societal control mechanism . I actually thought this was common knowledge in the US as well these days!
If people thought they were helpless in the event of a nuclear attack, they would act - whether to demand an end to the cold war, to protest the government, or to react in the various chaotic ways people do when feeling powerless. But when people are told there is something they have direct control over - a small way to make themselves safe? They become more placid and easier to control. That was exactly the plan.
The measures only need to feel 'just plausible enough' for people to believe in them.
@@GigalassII What negatives effects does irradiation have compared to radiation?
This film left me completely devastated when I watched it years ago, "The cake will be burnt!" still sticks to me years later.
This has to be the most stereotypically British film imaginable, in the best possible way. The combination of the sort of naïvely optimistic, dutiful patriotism of the main characters and the extremely bleak, nihilistic scenario they're placed in gives it this cynical yet touching aura that I've only ever seen in British media.
Have you seen the other side of British bomb movie threads not so cheerie
Stiff upper lip
patriotism has been such a large part of our culture and media it's become sort of a joke, the idea of naïvely following the government's ideals and going to war for your country is practically impossible for the younger generations, yet for the older ones it's second-nature.
HOW IS THE MOVIE STEREOTYPICAL
@@Lucariocypher2006I mean, the main characters are pretty much stereotypes of an elderly British couple.
The sound effects in the videotape guidebook is so eerie. It genuinely makes me feel unease in the middle of this calm couple’s banter.
It's so weird this was hit with copyright because I swear there's videos that use more footage and there's the whole damn movie on here
The copyright system is bullcrap!
This is probably one of the most disturbing movies I've ever seen. Something like "A Serbian film" just isn't disturbing to me, because it's just so over the top and trying way too hard to be shocking, but stuff like this is based in reality, it's something that has happened before and can happen again, and that's terrifying.
and this is a watered down version of death just imagine if it was realistic like the threads based after the protect and suvive program
@@FlaminTyres Threads is just a whole other conversation, goddamn- that movie is horrifying-
@@amazingspiderlad i havent even watched it i just know its so violent but true
What's a Serbian film and what's threads?
@@tusk5291 A Serbian film is widely considered to be the most disturbing movie ever made because of a scene where someone fucks a baby. The whole thing is just shocking for the sake of it.
Threads is a movie where a nuclear bomb is dropped on the UK city of Sheffield, and it goes on to show the aftermath. Kind of similar to When the wind blows I guess, but it's live action.
One of the reasons I think they weren’t really scared of the bombs at the beginning is similar to how ppl were during the Hawaii ICBM crisis. A lot of ppl didn’t panic. Some said they didn’t bc they knew that there was simply nothing they could do. They just accepted that no matter what they did, they were going to die.
Thankfully it was just a test but it showed a lot of how ppl would react to learning about an attack on their city or town
i remember studying this in school. The thing i always took from it was the love story. The way that, when the world ends, they just want to be together. The way he sees his wife as beautiful even as she falls apart always made me cry.
My 5th grade class studied 'Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes', about a girl who survived the Japanese nuclear bombs but died from the effects later.
@@CAThompsonSame, my class studied this book in fourth grade
1:38 I think the cover art is so interesting the fact that they have literally turned their backs on the danger behind them says so much about the characters typically “turning your back” on something means to reject it which could be applied here saying that they reject the idea that their government would let this happen but it could also mean that they are ignoring it they have literally turned away from the truth of what is happening to them and their small town and as the problem gets bigger it slowly sneaks up on them and they will not be ready when it finally arrives
358 likes no comments let me fix that dude🙂
@@Lucariocypher2006 no
This reminds me alot of "Grave of The Fireflies", tho that one hits me harder bc children are involved.
You're just watching these lovable characters wither away under forces beyond their control but very much man-made. Unlike a natural disaster, their fate was completely preventable and that fact just fills you with frustration and bitterness.
it definitely gets their messages across
Barefoot Gen is the perfect blend between When the Wind Blows and Grave of the Fireflies in that aspect
@@CannibalisticRapscallion But Barefoot Gen ends - Spoilers - on a slightly more hopeful but still very bittersweet note. Grave and When the Wind Blows are just heartbreaking.
Dude you’re so right, watching sieta take care of setsuko the entire movie only to have her die in his arms is what broke me . I think the biggest heart break was seita knowing what was going on the entire time but trying to protect setsuko. Real sad movie, cry every time I watch it.
Grave of the fireflies utterly destroyed me.😢
@@fopjn01sendsitaint it that Hiroshima movie
one last video before I goto sleep,
the video:
Fr. I’m watching this during the day at school and I already know I won’t be able to sleep tonight
I always thought the son acted like that to his parents because the son knew that nuclear war meant death, no survival. So he thought there was no point in worrying about getting things together
He lived in London, which would have been ground zero for a bomb, or three. He knew he was doomed.
It kills me knowing that these people could've survived if they had just thought on their own accord instead of listening to the manual. They had everything they needed, food, water, shelter, they could've lived, and likely would've.
Would they, though?
Or would it have just been a longer death?
Look at the devastation, the implication that this was, indeed, Mutually Ensured Destruction
@@Birdsflight44 MED
@@BavonWW Thank you captain obvious, let's turn on our brains now.
@@GeoRazer True, but many of our fellow humans are often unable to discern fact from fiction these days.
This is concerning, and the reason why I often point it out.
It is similar to increasing examples of people who believe that Jesus spoke English, and was also fair haired. 🙃
@@BavonWW I'm pretty sure anybody with a functioning brain would know that the movie that says it's based off of a fictional novel...is fictional.
Seeing such sweet character designs utterlly devistated is heartbreaking.
I should not be watching this late at night, but its too late to stop now
I send you a hug. We'll be fine.
I’m a fellow American, I thank you very much, Water Wave for uploading this masterpiece of a analysis, you have made me start collecting Raymond Briggs’s work. I mostly try to get the Hamish Hamilton hardcovers cause I love that UK feel. I collect the more obscure ones too he’s made like The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman. For an example on how many I’ve collected here’s them all…
When the Wind Blows- Hamish Hamilton 1982 Hardcover
Gentleman Jim- Hamish Hamilton 1980 Hardcover.
The Tin-Pot Foreign General and the Old Iron Woman- Little Brown 1982 Hardcover (American)
Ethel & Ernest- Johnathan Cape 1999 Hardcover
Fungus the Bogeyman: PLOP UP BOOK- Hamish Hamilton 1982 Hardcover
The Bear- Random House 1994 Hardcover (American)
The Adventures of Bert- 2001 Farrar, Straus and Giroux Hardcover ( American )
Unlucky Wally: Twenty Years On! 1989 Hamish Hamilton Hardcover
The Man- 1992 Random House Hardcover (American)
The Complete Father Christmas- FC 1973 FCGOH 1975 complete 1978 Hamish Hamilton Hardcover
Fee Fi Fo Fum- 1966 Coward Mc-Cann Hardcover
UG: Boy Genius of The Stone Age- 2001 Alfred A. Knopf Hardcover (American)
Cor! And that’s all of my books by Raymond, I own. Quite a lot of UK ones, I’m collecting more, soon!
THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO!
He was wonderful, wasn't he?
@@lindsaypollock597 Yes, Indeed he was a Beautiful and talented Illustrator, I love how in his later books he never Rushed his illustrations which is a great example of his effort and work.
Oh man. Fungus was my favourite as a kid. Might explain how I turned out 😅
I saw this in Primary School in the 90s as well as reading the comic book. Its always stayed with me, as has the memory of a classroom of 8-9 year olds pretending that they are not crying and failing pretty miserably. If I remember rightly though, the teacher sacked off the rest of the lessons we were supposed to do and just let us play/draw/have fun for the rest of the day.
I have no idea what made them show a traumatising movie that was mode foul language and inappropriate scenes to a bunch of Primary kids.
@@a.s.raiyan2003-4 Because despite the wall having recently fallen and the Soviet Union collapsed, nuclear proliferation was still on going.
And as such they wanted to impart the best lesson in regards to nuclear weapons and given that the two characters could readily be identified with as my grandparents generation it drove that lesson home.
And I personally do not fault them at all, what's an afternoon of sobbing Vs a lesson that remains with them their entire life?
@@WeWillAlwaysHaveVALISI would think very young children could do without being exposed to this
@@carebear8655 I think you are incorrect as that's exactly who it was intended for. It's hardly even a radical idea, prior to Disney purchasing and repackaging virtually every fable going, they were significantly darker in tone, with the protagonists almost always meeting with a terrible end. They were quite effective at teaching their associated lessons.
Wrapping children up in bubble wrap generally speaking leaves them ill prepared for the rigours of reality, and let's be frank, crying is basically nothing, none of us were harmed, none of us were scarred, but I am still able to clearly recall the message from that cartoon over thirty years later. So what you think about it is largely irrelevant, it was and is effective.
@@NeggieKnight the idea of your own grandparents slowly and irreconcilably dying wouldn't have made you cry at such an age?
If not I would question your emotional make up to be frank.
I HAVE seen this movie, actually...as a child, no less! I'm an 80s kid, and in a pre-Simpsons, pre-Akira world, the people responsible for tv programming in Western countries still thought that a movie or show being animated automatically meant that it was kids' stuff. They put this on during the afternoon, when they'd usually show kid-friendly cartoons. I don't remember if this was before or after the Chernobyl disaster, but it was sorta around that time. Needless to say, it seriously f*cked me up.
Pretty stupid of them to put this on for kiddos. As an adult this film makes me feel really sad
@@prettyoriginalnameprettyor7506Giving kids a reality check isnt stupid. They might've given them an important lesson instead.
@@Hp-xk2dwReality checks are important, but it's also important to be like, "reality check incoming, shit's gonna get DARK' otherwise you're just hurling a cinder block at a kid's squishy little head and yelling "THINK FAST!"
As an 80s kid myself, it seemed all too common to get caught off guard by traumatising cartoons, like Watership Down, Plague Dogs or seeing Aslan getting shaved and stabbed in the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe. But this was another level. It left me with anxiety issues for a couple of years at least.
Me too! But I didn't see it in the 80s, I saw it a couple years ago when I was maybe around 13. One of my top films of all time. Where the wind blows is incredible.
The most terrifying example I can think of from radiation is the case of, I believe this is his name, Hisashi Ouchi, wendigoon has a video about it. Basically he suffered a freak accident at a nuclear power plant in Japan and his body decomposed while he lived through the whole thing
And just like jim in this story, Hisashi was incredibly optimistic to his wife and child, saying positive things about how thankful he was that he had them. He went trough the worst pain imaginable but did not want to worry his family. Kind of a devastating video to watch (but really good!)
When will the suffering end?😢
@@NikitaClayton-qn7ge after 83 days 😬
I know the video you're talking about and yeah that was tough to get through. The lengths the medical staff went through to try to save him or help him pass peacefully was incredibly commendable. If it were me though I think I'd have preferred if they just put me down with drugs.
yes, he survived 83 days of his body effectively rotting, once he did die they did an autopsy and what they found was even though his body was utterly destroyed- his heart was fine. it had evidence of stress but in the end it was intact and no one can explain why.
'He'll be alright, our son is a very safe driver'
Ma'am, i think your 'careful driver' is dea-
most optimistic proto
I started watching this video to put on for background noise while working on an art project. Now, I’d NEVER heard of this. As you started talking about how it was based off a graphic novel, i paused the video and went to go read it myself. Finished the whole thing in 20 minutes. Never before has anything affected me like that comic. I feel like someone’s grabbed me and shaken me very hard, and I’m stuck with that after-effect impact buzz for longer than I’d like. I’ve been on the verge of tears since I finished it. I go back to the video, unpause, and try to open my art program again - and I just can’t. How can I go back to business as usual after that, paired with seeing what I just watched in motion on my screen, in little handcrafted sets and voice acting? The pit in my stomach is unlike anything as i watch the movie play out, because now I KNOW exactly what’s going to happen. This is an excellent video, and your narration and presentation is wonderful. I just wanted to share my own experience as I’m watching. I’m gonna be thinking about this story for days after this. Thank you for sharing it.
Check out Grave of the Fireflies. It will likely affect you in a similar way. Brilliant film, painful to think about afterward though.
Woah
No doubt 20 minutes you will never forget.
I read When The Wind Blows as a child, and even now at 48, I hear the title and feel the tears gather in my eyes.
this movie deeply traumatized me as a little kid. remember watching this on tv in 1990/91, and cuz it was a "cartoon" it must be funny and interesting. i clearly remember that i was terrible afraid of tab water and didnt drank it for some time out of fear getting radiation sickness and losing hair/dying
Now I have a new irrational fear (fun!)
this is probably one of the saddest videos ive seen. they even stayed happy when they were rotting from radiation, and the nuclear blast, and they always seemed positive, this is a great story and i would love to watch the movie. it really puts into detail what nuclear war is really like.
A heartbreaking little detail I noticed. Throughout the entire movie, James is always reassuring Hilda that everything is okay, and explains everything going on around them to normalize it and keep her calm. And in the end, James' mind is going from the radiation, becoming more doubtful. In their final minutes, Hilda is the one to reassure James and convinces him its safer to get in the bags. They balance each other through the story, even in the end.
He very clearly knows the reality of their situation, and he demonstrates this knowledge over and over. But the most damning evidence of this is when he panics while trying to get her to go into their "shelter", saying "Come back you stupid b**** and get in the shelter!". This clearly demonstrates that he had an understanding of the gravity of the situation (in the movie, at least).
He had the understanding of the gravity of the situation that if Hilda did *not* do what was written in the government pamphlet, she would be at risk. Early on in the video he mentions that these two grew up during the Second World War, and they were trained to survive normal bombings. He knew the bomb posed a threat, but treated it as a normal bomb. The moment it had gone off, in his mind, they were safe again, and Hilda could leave the “shelter sanctuary” without posing a danger to themselves, even though the pamphlet said to wait 48 hours. To me, he clearly did not understand the gravity of nuclear warfare, and that is why he was so scared for Hilda to be out in the house while the bomb detonated, but not very scared at all to even leave the house afterwards.
@@benten2462 "It will be over in a flash."
The biggest clue for me is that they don't seem to actually know what fallout is. At some point they discuss it and conclude it would look like snow (I think the PSAs used a sort of dust/snow effect).
And in very large amounts, with a lot of debris, you might be able to see the dust that's mixed with the radionuclides as it falls down. You might see the black rain that results as the 'cloud' produced by the explosion ends up 'raining' stuff out. But for something like this, the spread would likely be really wide. And considering the house was shook by the shockwave, debris and dust wouldn't seem out of place.
They don't see the 'snow', they don't see the dust as anything out of the ordinary, so seemingly it's 'not dangerous'.
This horrified me beyond belief when I originally watched it. I’m a Brit who lives in the countryside. Everywhere in this film looks exactly like my home. I have an extremely negative relationship with all of my grandparents, but the old couple still struck a chord. Amazing video dude, shook me so much my cockatiel was worried.
did this really happen back in the 80's?
I just finished watching the movie and I realized it's impossible such an event happened in the Uk because y'all would have alredy done a thousand films about it
@@alexiacaceda1421 Honestly if the whole of Britain was laid to waste by atomic weapons, I think it wouldn't just be us making films about it.
@@curlyfordoge4366 hahaha that’s right
What's your cockatiel's name? Mine's is Mittens :)
There’s an Iron Maiden song “When the Wild Wind Blows” closely based on this, but the bomb doesn’t go off, an earthquake happens but the couple assume it was the bomb and take poison. Fun fact- their song the Trooper is actually about the charge of the light brigade mentioned at the end of this video
I love that song so much. The ending and the way they build up to it is so well done. The fact that they would have survived if they had waited longer always gets me. This story shows how easy it is to make bad choices when faced with the worst.
David Bowie wrote the actual song for this cartoon
I’m a maiden fan and I don’t think I’ve ever heard When the Wild Wind Blows but i just went to listen to it and it was a great song. I never thought a song could have a plot twist but here we are
Wow, another couple in the opposite situation; taking it too seriously and needlessly dooming themselves, whereas here, they're ignorant of their situation and it kills them.
Bruh. This story is devastating! Thank you for sharing. Very well done.
What?!
Ironically I was just thinking about this video and you pinpointing the moment he realizes he may have misread the handbook and doomed them even though they were doomed either way.
I actually have seen when the wind blows. I saw it in school back in the day. It was shown in my English class and i fell in love with it. I loved the gritty nature of it and its animation style. I immediately bought a dvd to watch it on then. Im not entirely sure why he showed it to us in a school, but while we watched it and took notes, I bought the book and showed it to the teacher. I decided to let him keep the comic before i graduated. Im pretty sure he still has it
That seems interesting as hell
@akyureii9392 I guess it is originally an anti-war movie made to scare kids and make sure the next generation won't bomb the planet, so i guess it kinda makes sense for it to have been shown in school. Everyone else in the class was all depressed and freaked out by it, but I just adored its style and message. Like the loss of hope and genuinely disturbing scenes like where they drank fallout.
The ending of this movie has to be one of the eeriest things I’ve seen. The lack of color, the way the bags are animated, their voices. It genuinely creeps me out a little bit
I just watched your darkest dystopia video and then this one immediately and i think im doommaxxing
It's absolutely terrifying that this couple could have been my grandparents, and their children my parents affected by nuclear war.
My grandfather was born in 1932, he had a bomb shelter bed exactly like the one shown in 10:20 .
My mother (born 1970) also told me that during the cold war and all its crises and how she felt about them. During the eighties, when she was just over ten, she told me that "I went to bed every night terrified that the Russians or the Americans were going to ring the bell, and I spent hours praying they wouldn't before I went to sleep." The idea that her prayers would go unanswered in a world like this is enough to make me cry.
That's awful they took down the original. Was very well put together.
I know that this does the theme a great service of being a poster boy for how disastrous nuclear fallout is but I cannot help myself from giggling every time you showed the clip of the husband calling his wife a stupid bitch
Nah same lol
it works well in context because I'm pretty sure that's literally when the bombs are dropping or somesuch. he's freaking the absolute fuck out
@@commandantcarpenteryeah, and he also just wants to make sure his wife is safe
Honestly, I've finished seeing the Fallout TV show, based on the game series, and made me think that the apocalypse after a nuclear war is "cool" but then it's stuff like this that makes me remember the horror of reality.
That's desensitization fer ya. Look at what slasher movies do to people's perception of violence. When it's on screen, they smile, laugh, & joke at it, forgetting that horrors like it happen daily all over the world.
The Fallout Show is just window dressing. By based on the game series. You mean a superficial retconning of Fallout 1, 2, and New Vegas. With a terrible story full of plot holes and contrivances. Then, given a generous coating of Fallout 4/76 esthetics and references to all the games. Just an empty shell of a TV series.
Radiation in Fallout 1 and 2 was the creeping death. The wasteland was full of enemies and mutant animals. Some of the latter could inflict Radiation poisoning on the character.
@@IdleDriftersure, but I have one Major question that’s just Burning a hole right through me.
Who Asked?
I used to freak out whenever i got radiation sickness in Fallout and I can only image how much more scary it will be in real life. I also love the sound of Geiger counters to the point I'll listen to them to fall asleep but that sense of dread you feel whenever you hear one worsens the more aggressive they sound.
Well the fallout show takes place 100s of years after the bombs dropped when a lot of the radiation would have subsided so it’s practically harmless
Sad that the original has been taken down, it was such a great video too
Howdy! So this is a re upload of my latest video which was manually claimed and blocked, re-edited to use as little footage from When The Wind Blows as possible, so fingers crossed it stays up this time and anyone who only got to watch half can finish it, and thanks so much to anyone who watched the original or if you’re here for round 2 💙
I watch the og video and was good nice job
No way it got claimed:( that video was honestly amazing and gave me a lot to think about for a day!
I saw the og video ❤
Watched the og, wander why they took down the og
They nuked it
I stopped the video a few minutes in to seek out the movie. I felt such dread when they started happily collecting rain water and drinking it. All those pamphlets did was tell them how to build a shelter, but it didn't educate them on anything after. They could have collected food and water sooner, they could have hidden in the cellar, they could have prepared better.... but they weren't properly taught, and they had to watch each other waste away. And the way they so casually went outside of their shelter.... made me wonder if they were already suffering side-effects and couldn't think properly.
Where did you find it?
@@LaCabraAsada I just typed it on google and a facebook page called "VanguardiaMental" came up which had uploaded it.
But in that situation what's the point of surviving a month longer?
@@LaCabraAsada ik this is an old comment but for anyone else looking i found it for free on the internet archive
I think the pamphlets were never meant to help them survive. They were meant to help them do something vaguely constructive so there wouldn't be mass panic in the streets and, if some parts of the country were left untouched, eventually clean up crew could reach them and find something to help identify who had been there.
The part of the population knowledgable enough to realise that sat around and partied their last bit of time away (as was their son in the book)
There was nothing for the after because if the bombs actually dropped there wouldn't be an 'after', any survivors of the blast radius wouldn't last long enough for survival tips to matter. What'd be left would be too bleak and depressing to put into a pamphlet for giving the population 'hope of surviving'.
They were a bandaid for a third degree burn.
love the fact that op is appreciative of the artistic choices that made the film slightly different than the book. its not wrong, just had different goals.
There’s a great short story that’s kinda along the lines of this movie
It’s called “there will come soft rains” (1950) by Ray Bradbury
Set in the future of 2026, It’s about the aftermaths of an atomic annihilation which the “smart house” still carries on the daily tasks despite the house being empty and the city being destroyed.
It eventually ends with the house going mad due to a fire, and eventually destroys itself.
In the end, the house is in ruins just like everything else.
Nothing survives.
That short story is also part of a really good book called "The Martian Chronicles"
Weird to think '26 is only two years away, huh?
They did a good radio theater with this novel. It's one of the episodes from "X minus one" sci-fi serie.
Oh man wasn’t in the right head space to learn about this movie. In a long term relationship with a kid on the way. This and Threads just an existential nightmare, one of my biggest fears. The thought of having to look at my partner or my future child in the face and tell them its alright in this situation fills me with a sense of dread as heavy as cement. Don’t know if I’d have the strength.
Honestly agree, I would never have the strength to look anyone in the face and tell them it’s okay
Keyboard
Mr. Con
°•○●□■
Ninja Turtles
One thing that I noticed is that after Jim calls Hilda a Stupid Fool, they argue about Jim not having mannners and Jim wanting Hilda to shut up so he can listen to the instructions on the radio. I listened to the radio version with Peter Sallis in it and, when I listened closely, realised that in the story the radio says for them to stay indoors and no matter what, don't leave your house. If they'd just not argued and listened to the radio, perhaps their sickness could've been prevented. Although, I don't think it would've helped a lot. Their shelter looked pretty inefficient.
19:30 the airplane sound you hear is actually an effect called a phaser! They probably applied a phaser to the drum recording and that was the result. Its a little box with knobs so you can change the rate of the sounds changing and such. Very neat
You mention at the end of the movie/book that the elderly man quotes The Charge of the Light Brigade, but it's worth noting around the @8:18 mark that he says, "ours is not to reason why..."
That line is quoted from the poem.
"Ours is not to reason why,
Ours is but to do and die."
This actually scares me, not because of the visuals but this actually happens and frightens me it’s just the thought of me and my family the thought of never seeing my loved ones. Maybe it’s just the thought of death in general, or the fact that it will never be the same afterward. Like why can’t we all live in peace and come together instead of just killing eachother.
Same bro, this made me glued into my bed out of fear 😂
Same as well, this might be the first video that has made me feel terrified. That is amazing.
Yeah…
Enjoy every second, since every second could be the last.
@andreasahrlund-richter2289good for you! It's kinda soothing to see a comment like this after the sense of dread I got because of the video 🙂
I started tearing up like 20 minutes in and probably should’ve stopped, but for some horrifying reason I felt like I needed to finish their story. The horror comes from the realism
This is one of my favorite yt videos ever! I come back to watch it every once in a while and it made me buy the graphic novel- thank you
I feel the couple in this story is a representation of the "keep calm and carry on" mentality of ww2 generation Britons. The charming, hopeful British spirit that lasted them through the blitz failed to stand against the terrifying devastation of the nuclear bomb.
This plays into another story about Raymond Brigg's own parents 'Ethel and Earnest' (and equally sweet book about a quintessential british couple and an equally heartrending ending) and his feeling of detachment from his parents due to the differences in their way of seeing the world.
One time my Horror Fiction teacher asked us all what our favorite horror movies was, and I kinda was torn between giving an actual horror movie thats my favorite, The Thing, and the movie that actually horrified me because of the historical context I was aware of before I saw it, Come and See, which if you know, You Know,
Come and See is one of the best films of all time. As generic as this comment sounds, I genuinely mean it when I say it's one of the best.
Wait, a horror fiction teacher? what class it that?
It was it's own standalone class considered as a fine arts, it was only for seniors and taught by one of our english teachers that only did freshmen and senior lol@@HannibalTorrance
Come and see is a legitimate horror movie, and I'll die on this hill lol
Halloween scared me
We watched this at school. I grew up with the vague threat of nuclear war, Protect and Survive, my Dad was in the fire brigade and had a place in the local bunker. I remember asking at school why a door leaned up against the wall would stop fallout etc, not understanding how it was clearly just a measure to keep the public distracted and not rioting in the immediate aftermath of being nuked. Like being told to wrap up and label dead bodies, as if a collapsed society full of corpses would be keeping records. It was my childhood, so I've got to admit I'm oddly nostalgic for the cold war era despite it all - anyone else?
im speechless. what an amazing piece of art. i need some hours to unpack this, i think..
Little known fact, the soundtrack is a combined effort from David Bowie and Roger Waters.
In the time Pink Floyd was disbanding both Waters and Gilmore had strong anti nuclear / anti war themes in their music.
See "Two suns in the sunset", PF, the final cut and Gilmores "cruise" on his debut solo album.
And here I thought I was getting The Wall vibes just because of the animation. This whole movie has big Goodbye Blue Skye vibes tbh.
Roger’s songs on the soundtrack are powerful and amazing.
this movie is a great example of an adaptation done right, in my opinion. it takes the original message and amplifies it by utilizing strengths only the medium of animation has, combining live-action, stop-motion and 2d animation in interesting ways and other stuff like sound design for example
What makes the bomb shelter sad is the fact that when the government was giving out things saying how to survive a nuke attack, everyone knew it was crap, and that nothing could save you from nukes, but the civilians wanted anything to comfort their fears.
A note on the final bit that James recites: While it does end with the poem, what James is trying to recite is Psalm 23, a very popular Bible passage to remember in times of distress, grief, and hardship, reassuring that though one walks through the valley of the shadow of death, God is with them, and will protect them. But through his weariness and on the brink of death, he can’t remember it, and drifts off into the poem.
For those who skipped Sunday school, here’s the passage James tries to recite:
“1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”
I remember watching this movie at one point. It's so devastating to watch.
I watched it twice first time I cried at the sad parts second I mostly cried during the happy parts cause I knew what would happened read the book a couple times still just a sad
@@SC3N3S0PH_. I watched a video on it before I watched it myself. So I knew what was going to happen the whole time. And everything just stung more and more
not at all gut wrenchingly stressful to know that ensured existence of our countries is being maintained by the longest and most intense game of chicken on earth.
At least we'd all die pretty fast
@@snailart14I wouldn't. I live no where near where they would bomb. Alow dead by radiation for me
@@obvioustroll13 Unless you're in the fallout plume, it's a safe bet the radiation won't get you.
It'll be the starvation for you.
@@stevenschnepp576thanks steven! you really know how to support and uplift people
Another important thing about radiation is wether or not the bomb was air burst or ground burst. If the bomb explodes when hitting the ground then it kicks up a lot more material that will become radioactive. Compared to an air burst which will kick up less material (especially less dirt)
Yeah, in layman's terms, airburst: big boom, groundburst: less boom but more fallout
@@Biggerman159explosions on the ground makes the land uninhabitable for millions of years and if they use “dirty” bombs it’s even longer but most nukes use airburst nowadays
At post credits you could hear a morse code that means M.A.D Mutual Assured Destruction, in conclusion the world had ended.
Really!?
Damn. :(
I just came back from watching the movie, and I gotta say...
It was crazy realistic. With the exception of characters appearing then fading away, I saw that the interactions were very much like a cartoony old couple. The reactions to things felt real. And the cut scenes are astounding.
I remember watching this when it was first shown on UK TV. I was a hot headed, cocky teenager and it reduced me to a blubbering wreck. Such a powerful films that deserves a lot more attention.
I actually have seen this film, and I've even read the comic, and it's so sad. When politicians die, I smile, but when normal people living normal lives die, I feel so miserable.
One thing I'll add, knowing the author based the comic on his parents makes me the most sad, because it reminds me of my mum and dad and their two dogs.
WAIT HIS PARENTS DUDE IM SOBBING 😭😭
Why do you smile when anyone dies
You smile? Like I get what you are aiming for but smile? Jesus, dude.
blud edited it
@@nekojen9they literally bomb innocents
I felt like he had an idea and was trying to protect duck.
People's faces don't usually decay, and chemical weapons had been used in WW1, so he would have some idea.
If memory serves, I think James quotes Charge of the Light Brigade earlier too when he says, "Ours is not to reason why". The line that follows after is, "Ours is but to do and die"
That line "ours not to reason why" has become proverbial, not intended to fully invoke the poem. The impression I get is that it comes back to him and he realizes, yes, its exactly like that.