4) When The Wind Blows
Quite different to your ordinary comic book given how it plays out in such a subdued, subtle way, Raymond Briggs’ graphic novel When The Wind Blows may be less emphatic and forceful than a typical comic book adaptation, but the effect it has is far more profound and heartwrentching than many other movies that have made the leap from page to screen.
The movie depicts Mr. and Mrs. Jim Bloggs, an elderly couple living in rural England during turbulent political times. The United Kingdom is on the verge of nuclear war, and Jim decides it best to prepare his home accordingly just in case outbreak ever occurs. Obtaining some outdated government leaflets from his local store, he goes to work setting up the house,and all of a sudden a radio announcement is made declaring that a nuclear missile is on its way to the UK.
The two survive the blast, but utterly ignorant to the dangers or lurking radiation, they clamber out of their hiding place and continue to potter about their daily lives as if nothing happened, all the while getting sicker and sicker by the moment.
What’s so curious and unsettling about When The Wind Blows is how it maintains the same lolling tone throughout, despite the scenery growing visibly danker with each passing frame. The Blogg’s couple are blissfully ignorant of the seriousness of their situation, dismissing the absence of the morning newspaper and assuming it’ll turn up tomorrow instead.
I’ve written about this heart-aching movie on countless occasions, yet whatever ends up in print feels always feels somewhat incomplete. It’s one of those movies that simply needs to be seen to be experienced; packing the kind of emotional punch that’s enough to yank your jaw to the floor long after the credits are done rolling.