No Blade of Grass

• UK / USA • 1970 • 96m •

• Directed by: Cornel Wilde. • Starring: Nigel Davenport, Jean Wallace, John Hamill, Lynne Frederick, Patrick Holt, Ruth Kettlewell, M.J. Matthews, Michael Percival, Tex Fuller, Simon Merrick, Anthony Sharp, George Coulouris, Anthony May. • Music by: Burnell Whibley.

A strange new virus has appeared, which only attacks strains of grasses such as wheat and rice, and the world is descending into famine and chaos. Architect John, along with his family and friends, is making his way from London to his brother's farm in northern England where there will hopefully be food and safety for all of them. Along the way, they encounter hostile soldiers, biker gangs, and all manner of people who are all too willing to take advantage of travelers for a mouthful of food.

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Trailer

2:05

Review:

Just watched again, this for the first time in thirty years. It was as I remembered it - dreadful soundtrack, some stilted direction, full-on eco- warrior ranting, but it doesn't matter. The movie has no clichés, no happy ending, no holding back, no false veneers of good guys and bad guys. I am wracking my brains to come up with a similarly amoral film, from the English speaking world - yes, we might see something of this type from the French new wave, we might see it in Korean or Japanese movies of today, rarely. Sonatine comes to mind. But in a British movie of the 1970s, set in our own countryside?

Inspired, bleak, flawed of course and very dated, but damn close to unique. Damn prophetic too. If you want to see what an anti-hero really looks like, look at Anthony May's Pirie.

Review by frank-930-93440 from the Internet Movie Database.