When the Wind Blows (1986) | DISTURBING BREAKDOWN

Are animations supposed to be this sad?

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[_The_Archive_]

Fun Fact: David Bowie was originally slated to record several songs for the film but was only able to contribute the title song due to time constraints regarding his then-upcoming album "Never Let Me Down". Roger Waters contributed to most of the film's songs instead.

[katiejuby]

a lot of people theorise the old man had more of an idea of what was going on but played dumb for his wife. he knew they were doomed when they left that shelter and wanted to save her from some of the pain; after all, he had been through a war. he knew what it could look like to some extents even if it was just regular bombs.

the bags at the end are also what people were supposed to put the dead bodies in. in other words: they made their own coffins. the book is a lot darker; rather than forgetting the words, the man starts singing the morbid parts of the song about their souls going to heaven, and hilda starts to cry as she realises he finally gave up.

[zaydeshaddox]

This the only animated film to ever make me cry. When it started raining and they got excited and put pots out to collect the rain... that's when I realized where it was all going. They were so innocent.

[alexanderfinegan]

Part of the reason the ending is messed up is because they're following a half remembered protocol but don't understand why or what the point was. Wrapping people in potato sacks was a protocol for how to dispose of the dead in a nuclear situation when you can't leave your shelter or get rid of them. You wrap them up and leave them for someone else to come and retrieve... and this couple ends up doing it themselves without realizing any of it which is kind of in line with the rest of the movie.

[hymnofthenightingale]

I watched this movie recently on Tubi and it was heartbreaking. The love and care the old couple had for each other made the disturbing moments they went through feel more heartbreaking than usual.

[Tunade]

Something that will always get me about this movie is that during Jim and Hilda's conversations before the bomb dropped, Hilda recommends going into the basement, but Jim says it would be "too dank" and opts for the door shelter. In the event of a nuclear attack, the best place you can go for shelter is a basement or somewhere so you're as low underground as you can get. It would have also given them more room for supplies and moving room so they wouldn't have to leave and go upstairs.

Jim and Hilda could have made it if they opted to use the basement rather than that door hut.

[banethereckoning]

Watched this myself years back. A truly heartbreaking film. Made me think about my grandparents and my now slightly elderly parents being in this situation.

[neon_.dreamwave]

I just saw this movie yesterday morning, man that last scene when they were saying a prayer while slowly dying really made me cry so much, what a beautifully animated film

[CalvinChikelue]

I’ve actually deliberately avoided sitting down for this movie just due to my experiences with films like Grave of the Fireflies. Post-nuclear bomb media always guts me & just watching this summary was enough to make my eyes water a bit

[paulsillanpaa]

"They thought it was just a regular bombing."
That's the thing that screwed up so many people, especially in the early years of the Cold War. Nobody could wrap their heads around what a nuclear bomb was because nuclear war breaks every frame of reference. There were literally millions of people who'd lived through the fire bombings of entire cities, who thought they knew what war was. But nuclear war was like "everything you experienced during the course of the entire war, but it happens faster than a heartbeat, and if you don't die immediately, you get to die slowly."
That was the thing. Nuclear War breaks the frame of reference for human experience...

[CaesarPortugal]

My mum rented this for me and my big sister shortly after it was released on video. I was 7 years old. Terrified the shit out of me for years after. That was pretty grim bank holiday Monday.

[PizzaFox]

It's interesting to note that Raymond Briggs, the author of the original novel also wrote more light-hearted child-friendly books such as "The Snowman" and "Father Christmas". It's also worth noting that both Jim and Hilda Bloggs make a cameo during a bar scene in the animated adaptation of "Father Christmas". Some of the animators that worked on both "The Snowman" & "Father Christmas" also worked on "When the Wind Blows". Just thought it'd be interesting to mention.

Another thing to note is that in the graphic novel, Jim calls Hilda a "stupid fool" instead of a "stupid b***h". Though after the graphic novel was released and before the film adaptation was made, there was also a radio drama adaptation, which stars Peter Sallis of "Wallace and Gromit" fame. In that adaptation, Jim also called Hilda a "stupid b***h". My guess is that the word "b***h" was originally used in the graphic novel. However, after the release of both the radio and film adaptation, the publishers of the book decided to change the word to "fool" to make it more appropriate for Children, if that makes any sense. Please keep in mind that this just a theory.

One more thing to note is that in both the original novel and radio drama, when Jim and Hilda decide to go outside a few days after the bomb went off, the sky was bright and near-cloudless. In the film adaptation, the sky is completely covered with fog from the radioactive ash.

[racheledwards]

This was one of the most depressing movies ever. Along with Precious, Angela's Ashes, Unit 731

[Tunade]

A good follow-up film would to this would be Threads. It's in the same vein of When The Wind blows and was made around the same time. And while it does focuses on a nuclear attack on Britain like When The Wind Blows, it shows it on a much wider scale, showing how society and human culture would change for the worst.

[clarissakrigger]

I was DYING for you to review this. It's so tragic 😢

[wTiger]

Aw man this was a heartbreaker. Watch this and Grave of the Fireflies and you wont come out of your depression for a month.

[moxy]

Honestly one of the saddest animations ive seen having to do with war

[doctorcrankyflaps]

The comic and film scarred me as a child. Great upload, cheers.

[djc]

Great job - you can really tell how much you respect the horrors of war. Grave of the Fireflies DB next then?

[embercoral]

Finally! Now we're just waiting for The Day After and/or Threads (could be a 2-for-1 special, since they're both TV movies with almost the exact same premise).