When the Wind Blows (film)
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| When the Wind Blows | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Jimmy Murakami |
| Written by | Raymond Briggs (also graphic novel) |
| Starring | Sir John Mills Dame Peggy Ashcroft |
| Music by | David Bowie Roger Waters |
| Distributed by |  Recorded Releasing Kings Road Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | October 1986 (limited); [1] January 30, 1987 (wide) [2]
|
| Running time | 80 min. |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
When the Wind Blows is an animated film originally released in Great Britain in October 1986, based on Raymond Briggs' graphic novel of the same name. Directed by Jimmy Murakami, it stars the voices of John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft.
The film was Briggs' second collaboration with TVC, after their efforts with a special based on another work of his, The Snowman, in 1982. It was distributed by Recorded Releasing in its native Britain, and Kings Road Entertainment in America. A subsequent graphic novel by Briggs, 1998's Ethel and Ernest, makes it clear that Briggs based the protagonist couple in When the Wind Blows on his own parents.
When the Wind Blows is actually a hybrid of drawn animation and stop-motion animation. The characters of Jim and Hilda Bloggs are drawn, but their home and most of the objects in it are real objects that seldom move but are animated with stop motion when they do.
The film's soundtrack album featured music by Roger Waters and David Bowie (who performed its credit songs), Genesis, Squeeze and Paul Hardcastle.
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[edit] Plot summary
The film depicts a nuclear attack on Britain by the Soviet Union from the viewpoint of a retired couple, Jim and Hilda Bloggs. The Bloggs live in rural Sussex, and exhibit considerable confusion regarding the nature and seriousness of their situation, which is sometimes used to generate gentle comedy as well as darker elements. For example, after the nuclear attack, Hilda notices a smell of burning. Jim responds with the statement, "It smells like roast meat. I expect people are having their Sunday dinners early this week due to the unexpected circumstances." As the novel progresses their situation becomes steadily more hopeless as they suffer, for example, from the effects of radiation sickness. The film ends on an extremely bleak note, with them both dying as they pray.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ When The Wind Blows. The International Roger Waters Fan Club. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ When the Wind Blows Discography. The international Roger Waters Fan Club. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ 風が吹くとき (1986) (Japanese). AllCinema Online. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ Kamata, Satoshi (August 1987). "About the Nuclear Depiction in the English Animation 'When the Wind Blows' (核を描いたイギリス・アニメーション「風が吹くとき」を Kaku o Kaita Igirisu Animēshon "Kaze ga Fuku Toki" o?)" (in Japanese). Animage 110: pp.8–20.
[edit] External links
- When the Wind Blows at the Internet Movie Database
- When the Wind Blows at Rotten Tomatoes
- When the Wind Blows at Allmovie
- When the Wind Blows at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Toonhound pages on original graphic novel and animated film
