BY FRED BLOSSER
Learning
that a nuclear attack is imminent as international tensions escalate past the
tipping point, James (voiced by John Mills) and Hilda (voiced by Peggy
Ashcroft) prepare for the worst. From
their nostalgic memories of the World War II Blitz, the elderly English
working-class husband and wife anticipate that “the worst†will be inconvenient
but survivable. Consulting the
government’s civil preparedness brochures, James constructs a lean-to shelter
inside their cottage and lays in a supply of tea, crackers, and tinned food. When the bomb falls, the lean-to protects the
couple from the immediate heat and concussion of the blast, but the house is in
a shambles, the power is out, the taps have gone dry, and the toilet doesn’t
work anymore. Gamely enduring, the
couple settles down to wait for “the powers that be†to bring relief that never
comes as the insidious effects of radiation sickness set in.
“When
the Wind Blows,†an animated feature by Jimmy T. Murakami, faithfully
reproduces the deceptively simple visual look of the 1981 graphic novel by
Raymond Briggs on which it was based. As
the story progresses, the bright, cozy tones of the early scenes give way to
the darker, grayer shades of James and Hilda’s post-blast environment, and the
texture of the images becomes richer and grittier. The story is poignant and its quietly angry
message still resonates, even if we’ve swapped the Soviet bogeyman of the
movie’s Reagan-Thatcher era for a new array of heebie-jeebies on the 6 o‘clock
news. Remember, not so long ago,
Homeland Security reassured us that we had nothing to fear if terrorists were to
attack the U.S. with biological weapons: just stock up on dust masks and put
duct tape around the windows.
Twilight
Time’s new Blu-ray release packages a windowboxed, 1.33:1 transfer of the movie
in 1080p hi-def with a wealth of supplementary materials, notably a making-of
featurette, a 2010 documentary about animator/director Murakami, an interview
with author Briggs, isolated music and effects tracks, audio commentary by
First Assistant Editor Joe Fordham and film historian Nick Redman, and a handsome
souvenir booklet by Julie Kirgo. The
Blu-ray, which is limited to 3,000 units, can be ordered HERE.