MovieChat Forums > When the Wind Blows (1988) Discussion > Not endearing, irritating

Not endearing, irritating

posted 16 years ago by roseyolo
24 replies | jump to latest

Firstly, this movie starts with that awful David Bowie song (not saying all his music is awful), and I felt like I was wading through the beginning for that to end.

Secondly, the characters are both completely foolish and the woman is obnoxious as well. How are you supposed to sympathize with a moronic woman who is constantly talking about how clean everything is? Both of these people are supposed to have been through WWII yet both of them are ignorant about radiation sickness and fallout.

I couldn't find myself empathizing with characters who only managed to get on my nerves.

[–] sandra-h-1 16 years ago

Hm, you didn't get the movie, did you?

The couple certainly was a bit overdrawn, but I bet there are a lot people who really just blindly believe in everything that is told them. If you aren't a blind and naive follower - great! Teach your children and friends so that they don't end up like this poor couple (and lets pray that we never end up in such a situation in the first place).

(oh but I agree that the song was awful *g*)

[–] OceanWave-x 16 years ago

There was no threat of nucelar fall out in world war 2, as no nuclear weapons were used.

[–] jaywilde 16 years ago

Errr yeah except the two the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Jeez dude, offensive much? Tens of thousands of innocent people died, an entire country obliterated, the least you could do is remember that it happened.

Do you deny the holocaust too?

[–] sabbat7001 16 years ago

OceanWave-x "There was no threat of nucelar fall out in world war 2, as no nuclear weapons were used"

jaywilde "Errr yeah except the two the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Jeez dude, offensive much? Tens of thousands of innocent people died, an entire country obliterated, the least you could do is remember that it happened.

Do you deny the holocaust too?"

While terribly poorly worded, I think (hope) the point of the statement was that no nuclear bombs were dropped in England and thus Jim and Hilda would have had no experience with fallout, naively believing the old WW2 shelters and a stiff upper lip would be enough to get through.

In addition, yes, I think the original poster grossly missed the entire point of this terrifying movie.

[–] hallogallo 8 years ago

The nuclear bombs "obliterated" something like 0.05% of Japan's land mass. Exactly how small do you think Japan is?

Who's driving this plane? Stan Butler?

[–] dave1033a 16 years ago

I think you severely missed the point of this film...

The whole point of the couples naievety is the hub of this film. The fact that they believe that even after a nuclear war the government will be along to help, just as they did after ww2

The cruel and harsh reality never really sets in

"Every day above ground is a good day!"

[–] mikeyg24 16 years ago

Never mind Jaywilde, this is his only post on IMDB...

Awe Skinny, you got blood all over my trousers!
Jeez I'm real sorry Frank.

[–] sam-1715 16 years ago

Then Rozanna, you do not belong on this side of the fence.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] askmonroville 12 years ago

Yes... because Climate Change will destroy humanity the same way a full nuclear missile strike between the US and the USSR will.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] craig-169 15 years ago

The original poster has just been slated on the culture show by Mark Kermode.

[–] Spielburger 15 years ago

"The original poster has just been slated on the culture show by Mark Kermode."

And how.

For those who missed it: Mark Kermode's point was that the couple are only doing what we were all told to do, i.e. they are following official (and genuine) "govern-mental" advice. Specifically, they are following the instructions given in the notorious "Protect and Survive" pamphlet.

Famously described as "Alice in Wonderland" by the comedian Jasper Carrott, "Protect and Survive" was a public information exercise produced by the British government during the 80s to inform its citizens on how to protect themselves during a nuclear attack. It was widely lampooned at the time (cf. The Young Ones, Frankie Goes to Hollywood) for giving the impression that a nuclear attack was survivable.

If Jim and Hilda are "foolish", it's only in their mistaken belief that their government knows best and will always look after them - which is rather the point that Raymond Briggs was trying to make...

[–] CorpseCandle 15 years ago

For a scared elderly couple it's ethier absract terror or childlike belief in that the government will protect them.

I am certain they knew something of the truth but the truth was to fearsome to believe.

[–] thedeeperwell 14 years ago

I saw this film for the first time today, and I kept thinking about my own grandma. The impression I got was that they knew, especially as time went on, that they were going to die. I never thought that they were completely clueless. They just kept telling themselves that help was coming so that they didn't have to face the truth that their entire world had been destroyed and they were going to be next. That was what made it so sad to me. Every time the old lady mentioned that the house was a mess, it made me think of my grandmother and that she probably would have said the same things.

[–] rooee 12 years ago

"Childlike" was the word that sprang to mind while I was watching it. The clue is in the title, which comes from a children's lullaby. The way the film (and graphic novel) plays with our sympathies is clever.

[–] Gwasgray 9 years ago

Did Kermode really say "Some idiot on IMDB found this movie irritating" or something?

[–] Spielburger 9 years ago

Did Kermode really say "Some idiot on IMDB found this movie irritating" or something?

Well, it's been a long time and I don't recall the exact details, but essentially yes. It would appear that - prior to talking about the film on TV - he decided to some research online, but didn't like what he read...
I can't remember if he actually cited IMDb or just made a general reference to "movie forums", but it was clear from a little bit of digging that he was referring to the OP (and possibly other, similar threads).

As I said in my earlier post, Kermode was observing that calling Jim and Hilda "foolish" is to completely miss the point of the film: they're meant to represent the "everyman", and throughout the film they merely do what the Government has told them to do - the fact that this (quite genuine) "govern-mental" advice is nonsensical is at the heart of the satire.

--
"So I've got bullets, but no gun. That's quite Zen."

[–] ununchanged 14 years ago

...sad sad sad... you might end up beeing one of those obnoxious annoying people... theyre not ignorant, they believe what they are told and they supress bad things happneing around them... "ignoring" something would be conscious... the reality we live in actually can be very fragile, hence many many people only wanna hear "good news"...

[–] captlupin 13 years ago

Because in the 50s even in the 80s we were told how safe and easy to survive from nukes were they even showed footage of soldiers running at mushroom clouds.

if they told the truth outright that some lucky few would vaporise insatntly while some would suffer agonising burns from head to foot and die while the rest of you would die very slowly and extemly painfully from radiation. what do you think would happen.

[–] lovegropa 13 years ago

Its deliberately 'cute' and you clearly missed the point....what else did you expect from a cartoon animation exactly?

And there was zero apprectaion of the effects of radiation for a long time after the war....not only did the US do its best to suppress the issue but even Oppenheimer refused to accept it as a problem for a very long time after the war.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0810-01.htm

[–] askmonroville 12 years ago

One must keep in mind that while all 1st World governments suppressed information on the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it also shaped the military decisions ever since as well (ie. the reason for Korea and Vietnam was because both sides knew we couldn't go straight at each other, so we fought each other through proxy of a country we did not care if it was destroyed in the process).

Also keep in mind that, while I do like the film, it "is" straight-up propaganda that assumes that either the US, UK or USSR would go the distance.