The War Game (1965)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The War Game (1965) -- P. Watkins

In Bergman's Winter Light, Max Von Sydow is depressed because the Chinese have the bomb. In Peter Watkins' 48 minute meant-for-the-BBC "documentary", we see what impact an actual nuclear attack would have on Britain. And it is brutal: the costs of evacuation, the actual blast (both heat and shockwaves), firestorms, physical effects of radiation, psychological effects of trauma, dealing with corpses. This is a truly horrific film told in newsreel style as straight reportage. Even today, the doomsday clock stands at 6 minutes to midnight, closer than it was when Watkins made this film...