Threads |
UK / Australia / USA • 1984 • 112m •
  • Directed by: Mick Jackson. • Starring: Karen Meagher, Reece Dinsdale, David Brierly, Rita May, Nicholas Lane, Jane Hazlegrove, Henry Moxon, June Broughton, Sylvia Stoker, Harry Beety, Ruth Holden, Ashley Barker, Michael O'Hagan..      It is the mid-1980's, during the Cold War. Ruth Beckett & Jimmy Kemp, residents of the town of Sheffield, England, are planning for their upcoming marriage and birth of their first child. Sheffield is home to a major R.A.F. base and has a major industrial base of steel, energy & chemical production. But the Soviet Union marches troops into Iran, in a plan to convert it to a Soviet satellite state. The United States, Great Britain, and other members of NATO and the U.N. angrily condemn the Soviet aggression and military activity in England starts to mount, especially at the nearby R.A.F. base. The families of Ruth & Jimmy go about their daily business, paying little attention to what is going on in Iran. One spring day, without warning, the Soviet Union attacks England with ICBMs - two of which hit Sheffield, annihilating most of the city and its inhabitants. But what is even more horrifying is the aftermath that follows - a world without public order, clean food, water, electricity, or the ability to produce any of them. Ruth struggles for more than 10 years just to stay alive in this horrible, barren, radioactive homeland...
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Review:
"Threads" similarly to its American predecessor "The Day After", released a year before, depicts the events leading up to, during and after a Soviet-American nuclear war and the resulting social, medical and psychological breakdown of society. Unlike "The Day After", which shows up to a few weeks after the nuclear exchange, "Threads" shows what would happen 10 years following the attacks, allowing for a greater perspective on the aftermath. That, in my opinion, is why "Threads" packs a far harder punch than "The Day After" which, whist harrowing in its own way, has a more definitive end: with "Threads" the horror never ends.
Key to the film's power is the way the director, Mick Jackson, approaches the material. More kitchen sink drama then disaster movie, "Threads" was written by Barry Hines, author and screenwriter of the excellent "Kes". Jackson gives "Threads" a similar approach to the latter, portraying realistic, ordinary characters caught up in events far beyond their control. There are no scenes depicting Soviet and American generals bickering and blustering, instead, the political and military drama takes a backseat to the human drama. What we have instead, is an everyday scenario regarding an unplanned pregnancy, between two people from different social classes in Sheffield. A subplot details the bureaucratic and ultimately futile plans of a group of civil servants to keep the country running, should war break out. We are kept informed of escalating events between Russia and the United States via scant news reports, scattered radio broadcasts and a clipped, almost matter of fact narration from Paul Vaughan. There are no massive action set pieces showing cities being vaporised: instead inter-titles showing figures and statistics, clinically describe the worlds decent into nuclear holocaust.
Cast wise, "Threads" is, for the large part, devoid of household names, unlike "The Day After" which counts Jason Robards and John Lithgow among its cast. Here, the cast is comprised of mostly unknown actors, adding to the strong sense of realism. Few of the actors are household names, so their performances here are not tainted by their over familiar faces or associations with any other roles. Instead, the actor's anonymity helps the audience immerse themselves in the story and relate to the characters more. Following the attack scenes, several characters are never seen again, effectively putting us in the remaining characters shoes: they don't know what's happened to their loved ones and neither do we.
Ultimately, what makes "Threads" stand out among its contemporaries, are its true commitment to both realism and showing the audience the true, terrifying aftermath of nuclear war. The film shows us, in almost unbearable detail, the graphic and rapid deterioration of humanity once the bombs drop and the fallout descends.. Ironically despite the films subject matter there are comparatively few gruesome scenes, even the stomach churning hospital scene is shot and edited in such a chaotic, fleeting way that it leaves more of a psychological impact then a visceral one and shots of burned corpses are brief. The film's horror instead lies, not in graphic shots of dead and disfigured bodies, but in showing the complete and total breakdown of social order and how quickly the "threads" of society become severed. The majority of the films disturbing imagery is depicted in the third act of the story, depicting ten years after the attacks. What used to be Sheffield is now a burned out wasteland, inhabited by a dwindling population of sick, starving and blind survivors trying vainly to eke out an existence from the poisoned soil. The few children born since the war are illiterate, feral and barely capable of speaking English due to the nonexistent education system. The most horrific image that the film conjures up is its final one: due to years of radiation exposure, the next generation are stillborn and deformed and any lingering hope that the viewer had for a happy ending is brought crashing down.
For all the praise I've heaped on the film thus far, "Threads" does have a few, comparatively minor flaws. Some of the characters feel somewhat underdeveloped, although this could be overlooked, as due to the films style and commitment to realism giving the characters Hollywood style story arcs would have been jarring with the films tone. Secondly, due to the time and political climate when the film was made, it is perhaps unsurprising that the film is by now very dated, however again this can be overlooked as the films raw power overrides the films dated look. Indeed the films gritty, grainy stock really helps convey the squalor of the post war world.
Overall, "Threads" is a true television masterpiece that far surpasses the "The Day After" and the rest of its contemporaries. Powerful, hard hitting and thought provoking, "Threads" is guaranteed to linger in the mind long after it's over. Overcoming its minuscule budget and dedicated to showing the true face of nuclear war in all its grotesque, nightmarish realism, Mick Jackson delivers a truly terrifying glimpse into a world that could have been, could still be and must never be.
Review by Mr_Lacon from the Internet Movie Database.
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