![]() ![]() Critic Roger Ebert gave the film a rare full four star review, calling it “one of the most skilful documentary films ever made” and it won the Best Documentary Oscar – despite being scripted – in 1967. ![]() However, once it’d been produced, the BBC and the government feared its themes were too strong for a television audience and withdrew it from public consumption before it had been broadcast. In 1965, the BBC produced The War Game, which shared many of the same devices that would be used in Threads. The origins of Threads can be traced back almost 20 years prior to production. ![]() Try three issues of Film Stories magazine – for just £4.99: right here! They would make the perfect, if extremely depressing, double bill. It was made into an animated film and released two years after Threads. Briggs’ characterisation is a far quieter, more reflective piece with an astonishingly powerful ending. In 1982, Raymond Briggs – in a stark departure from The Snowman -tackled the issue from a suburban perspective in the wonderful When The Wind Blows, which is no less bleak. Threads is arguably the first film ever to deal directly and realistically with the idea of a nuclear attack and what it would mean for the human population. The government trying to control an uncontrollable situation, to use an example that may just have a few parallels to 2020 and beyond, or the harried hive mind of the British public when put under pressure to comply with certain rules. However, in many ways it is also extremely prescient and pertains to the 21 st century just as much as it did to the 1980s. In fact, especially in these tumultuous times, there’s a very strong case to be made for Threads being the most inappropriate film to watch, dealing as it does in themes of death, destruction and despair. It’s fair to say that Threads is not a film to entertain the family with on a sunny Sunday afternoon. This article contains spoilers for Threads ![]()
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