Wenn der Wind weht

This cartoon is not for children; it should not even be for adults as well, but it is a grim reminder of what could have been (and what might still be) if we are not vigilant as civil human beings on this planet. The best nuclear holocaust film since Hiroshima shows us the gradual breakdown of a lovely old couple in the English countryside after a nuclear exchange. It reminds us there are no winners in a nuclear war. The cartoon is described highly inaccurately by IMDB as a comedy. The word comedy and nuclear war should never be used in the same sentence. It is a drama and a tragedy of the highest order. Please fix this outrageous description, despite a few weak attempts at humor by the characters.

This is a film you will never forget. I watched it as a teenager expecting something soppy and sentimental (it was made by some of the same people who made the Snowman, a Christmas tale featuring the chorister Aled Jones).

John Mills is superb as the male character, his voice carries the echoes of his former glories as hero, officer type and all round good guy. With lavish casting, animation and soundtrack the plot is given a painful intensity.

Instead my family were treated to horror of the worst kind. A horror that deals with ordinary comfortable society. The two lovely elderly characters are my grandparents, my neighbours. We see them crumble and disintegrate in the nuclear aftermath. They prepare cheerfully for a nuclear war and wait helplessly in the fallout for a rescue which will never come.

Don't watch it with your parents, you will cry and be reminded about it for years afterwards.

This movie is not fun. It's an amazing movie and a seriously important message but it's not a fun ride. The animation is really cutesy and simple which fits the simplicity of the couple. The couple is really charming due to their normality and naïveté. The live action stuff and animations is also just really nice to look at. This movie can feel a little slow throughout but for the plot it's telling it works really well. With all this being said, it's hard to say I recommend this film as impactful and important as the message is the movie is just so dreary, bleak and kind of horrifying. The way this couple is so unaware of the danger they're in is actually scary to watch. And just the way this story is told is in a very cheery manner but with such horrifying undertones. The biggest issue is it's depressing to a point that it's not fun to watch.

This film is an amazing contrast: its extremely dark subject matter is totally belied by the beautifully-drawn backdrops and sweet cartoon style. As adult animations are so rare this style grabs you at once, and it is impossible not to be gripped. Anyone who doesn't remember the Cold War should note that the advice about the doors and painting the windows white was the true advice at the time. Where this film is so effective is its perfect charicatures of elderly folk determined to keep the British stiff upper lip, with no idea about nuclear weapons. My grandparents are exactly like this couple, I could see my nan also bringing in the washing during the four-minute warning. We never see the couple's son but his refusal to adhere to the government's "Protect & Survive" advice, singing the Tom Lehrer song down the phone to his father, is a far more realistic attitude towards what is about to happen. Living only 12 miles from London when I first saw this film I was inclined to agree with the son (and still do). Although the geopolitical map of the world is different now this is still an immensely valuable film as it shows what the risks were during the Cold War and is a chilling reminder that although the Cold War may be over, the weapons are still here. It could not be more different in presentation to the equally brilliant but far more horrifying Threads - but the message is the same.

There are very few films that attempt to realistically describe life after the bomb. If it is a Hollywood production, there has to be an optimistic ending - take "the day after" with a simple but uplifting message: some will die, there will be personal tragedy, yes - but we'll make it under the guidance of our government.

This film takes a different approach: the format (animated) and the setting (rural England) perfectly match the soothing government messages: build a shelter, keep some food and drink - you'll be alright.

But then the story is continued through to the (very painful) end: there is no more government, there is no more mailman, there is

no more you....