On the BeachWhen it comes to a nuclear holocaust, it doesn't really matter who shot first in the end--all face absolute annihilation as equals. On the Beach is a story about the aftermath of World War III; but rather than dwell on the conflict, it focuses on the lives of the few survivors left in Melbourne, Australia, where the trade winds have yet to bring the residual fallout and the painful death by radiation that follows. On an estimate of a mere five months, these souls count down their last days on Earth. They are the last vestiges of humanity, struggling to cling to civilization and make sense of their lives in the face of this senseless apocalypse.
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On the Beach was released in 1959, at the height of the Cold War, when the threat of a nuclear confrontation between the East and West was a very real concern. History has even shown in retrospect--such as in standoffs like the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962--just how very real the tension was and how close to the brink we really were. To a large extent, On the Beach is an impassioned plea for awareness of the horrors of nuclear war that often appear to be disregarded by impersonal rulers, and how the dissolution of diplomacy can mean an absolute end to all things. Like director Stanley Kramer's own Judgment at Nuremburg, On the Beach is a socially conscious film, and considers both the complexities and tragic absurdities of politics and nationalism left unchecked, and indeed paradoxically operating against the public welfare. No one surviving really seems to know how the nuclear destruction was started, who was responsible, or even who to blame in the search for closure. What is remarkable about On the Beach is how it explores the reactions of humanity staring down the death clock, and how they still cling to a semblance of normalcy to keep the madness at bay. On the Beach focuses on several people, and their ways of coping with the persistent sense of grief--for those who have been lost already as well as their own doomed lives. There is Commander Dwight Lionel Towers (Gregory Peck), who has brought his submarine--the USS Sawfish--to port in Melbourne, and who struggles to accept that his wife and two sons are already dead back home in Connecticut. Dwight is assigned on a final mission that spans most of the remaining months. The purpose is to investigate the faintest possibility of a zone in California that might be potentially free from fallout. As he prepares for his mission, he is assigned a liaison from the Department of the Navy in Australia, Lieutenant Commander Peter Holmes (Anthony Perkins). Peter and his wife, Mary (Donna Anderson), have recently had a newborn daughter, and are very much in love. Like many others, they are struggling to cope with the dreadful death awaiting them all in less than a year. To try to make Dwight feel more welcome, they throw a party and encourage Moira (Ava Gardner)--an attractive woman who turns to brandy to ease her anxiety--to get to know Dwight, who in turn enjoys her company but resists her romantic advances because of his devotion to his late wife. Asked to come along with Dwight and Peter to analyze the radioactivity of California is Julian (Fred Astaire), a scientist who confesses he was responsible for aiding in the development of the very weapons which ultimately doomed mankind. Julian once pined for Moira, but now is fixated on restoring a Ferrari to race in one last triumph of thrill seeking before the end closes in on him.
On the Beach is really a film about people, and the deep fears and anxieties they face, which they mask with social mores and decorum. Their interconnected dramas would be melodramatic in any other context, except that this is literally the end of the world. There is something obscene about the way that the characters try to force themselves to act with restraint, while the majority of the world has died from radiation poisoning. On the other hand, it is also the only kind of coping mechanism which makes sense; the only subconscious way to feel that one has any control over one's life is to continue to live it in a familiar way. On the Beach spares us the grisly moments described as the symptoms of radiation poisoning, but the tension of its inevitability is so thick you could cut it with a knife. Even the military mission to try to rediscover some safe harbor is one which everyone knows is fruitless, but it is an endeavor that must be done because it is expected and under ordinary circumstances would seem reasonable. In a film bursting with poignant scenes, one that stands out is when the crew of the Sawfish arrives in San Francisco, and almost each one of them looks through the periscope at the completely empty streets--their dejected and bereaved faces say everything about their fears confirmed. A constant state of dread looms over the bittersweet stories of the characters. Aware that time is, more than ever, an all-too precious commodity, they are forced to redefine or reaffirm their values, forcefully stripping away pretenses and accepting who they are before it is genuinely too late. A moment which illuminates this best is when Julian races in the Australian Grand Prix--the last of its kind. It is a race in which nearly all of the participants drive with reckless abandon--like they have nothing to lose--resulting in multiple smash ups and explosive crashes. Faced with the end, it is clear that these drivers are consciously throwing their lives on the line, risking death through their own agency rather than be faced with the abstract end carried by the trade winds. The inevitable global holocaust making its way to Australia is a proverbial Sword of Damocles...even its mere shadow poisons any genuine happiness during these remaining days. The harmony of "Waltzing Matilda" is often heard on the score of On the Beach, described as Australia's "unofficial anthem". It is a melancholy piece which, among other things, deals with accepting death on one's own terms, rather than having one's life be subject to indifferent authority...a powerful message as it relates to the chilling fate of the world in On the Beach.
Recommended for: Fans of a haunting, cautionary tale about the dangers of nuclear warfare--or any other similar Armageddon-chasing catastrophe--that loses its purpose of defending the weak in favor of disconnected politics and unregulated tensions. By sympathizing with the doomed remnants of humanity--the last victims of the negligence of global leaders--the film's message is clear: it is not too late to reverse the tide.
On the Beach is really a film about people, and the deep fears and anxieties they face, which they mask with social mores and decorum. Their interconnected dramas would be melodramatic in any other context, except that this is literally the end of the world. There is something obscene about the way that the characters try to force themselves to act with restraint, while the majority of the world has died from radiation poisoning. On the other hand, it is also the only kind of coping mechanism which makes sense; the only subconscious way to feel that one has any control over one's life is to continue to live it in a familiar way. On the Beach spares us the grisly moments described as the symptoms of radiation poisoning, but the tension of its inevitability is so thick you could cut it with a knife. Even the military mission to try to rediscover some safe harbor is one which everyone knows is fruitless, but it is an endeavor that must be done because it is expected and under ordinary circumstances would seem reasonable. In a film bursting with poignant scenes, one that stands out is when the crew of the Sawfish arrives in San Francisco, and almost each one of them looks through the periscope at the completely empty streets--their dejected and bereaved faces say everything about their fears confirmed. A constant state of dread looms over the bittersweet stories of the characters. Aware that time is, more than ever, an all-too precious commodity, they are forced to redefine or reaffirm their values, forcefully stripping away pretenses and accepting who they are before it is genuinely too late. A moment which illuminates this best is when Julian races in the Australian Grand Prix--the last of its kind. It is a race in which nearly all of the participants drive with reckless abandon--like they have nothing to lose--resulting in multiple smash ups and explosive crashes. Faced with the end, it is clear that these drivers are consciously throwing their lives on the line, risking death through their own agency rather than be faced with the abstract end carried by the trade winds. The inevitable global holocaust making its way to Australia is a proverbial Sword of Damocles...even its mere shadow poisons any genuine happiness during these remaining days. The harmony of "Waltzing Matilda" is often heard on the score of On the Beach, described as Australia's "unofficial anthem". It is a melancholy piece which, among other things, deals with accepting death on one's own terms, rather than having one's life be subject to indifferent authority...a powerful message as it relates to the chilling fate of the world in On the Beach.
Recommended for: Fans of a haunting, cautionary tale about the dangers of nuclear warfare--or any other similar Armageddon-chasing catastrophe--that loses its purpose of defending the weak in favor of disconnected politics and unregulated tensions. By sympathizing with the doomed remnants of humanity--the last victims of the negligence of global leaders--the film's message is clear: it is not too late to reverse the tide.