A group of ordinary French survived a nuclear war and found themselves in the face of what was left of civilization.A group of ordinary French survived a nuclear war and found themselves in the face of what was left of civilization.A group of ordinary French survived a nuclear war and found themselves in the face of what was left of civilization.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 3 nominations
Hanns Zischler
- Le vétérinaire
- (as Hans Zischler)
Emilie Lihou
- La Menou
- (as Émilie Lihou)
Reine Bartève
- Judith
- (as Reine Barteve)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- ConnectionsReferenced in The Last Horror Film (1982)
Featured review
By now you've seen it all before, but in the 80s, several films like this appeared, banking on the fears of the possibility of a very real nuclear war and they felt fresh. Funny how that wheel turns, heh, 2022?
Anyway, some people are in a wine cellar when a nuke blows their village away. They manage to survive and then they meet the "others" which of course are antagonistic. They solve the problem, but then, instead of going full The Walking Dead, the film goes in another direction. I found that ending added a lot to the film, although it was kind of subtle.
While some scenes are very good, some lines really deep and the dark exploration of human nature in times of crisis quite realistic, I couldn't really enjoy the slow pace, the mentally handicapped 30 year old and his almost senile mother or the religious cult controlled by an evil nobody who created the drama. Trintignant was always good, but he couldn't make this shine.
Funny enough there seems to be a 2009 remake, also French, which almost didn't see the light of day. It was released directly to TV in France after4 years from its completion. I don't know if the book is any better, but from what I read, it's better to just watch this 1981 film instead.
Bottom line: a combination of good acting and nice writing, but marred by a slow pace and really unsympathetic characters.
Anyway, some people are in a wine cellar when a nuke blows their village away. They manage to survive and then they meet the "others" which of course are antagonistic. They solve the problem, but then, instead of going full The Walking Dead, the film goes in another direction. I found that ending added a lot to the film, although it was kind of subtle.
While some scenes are very good, some lines really deep and the dark exploration of human nature in times of crisis quite realistic, I couldn't really enjoy the slow pace, the mentally handicapped 30 year old and his almost senile mother or the religious cult controlled by an evil nobody who created the drama. Trintignant was always good, but he couldn't make this shine.
Funny enough there seems to be a 2009 remake, also French, which almost didn't see the light of day. It was released directly to TV in France after4 years from its completion. I don't know if the book is any better, but from what I read, it's better to just watch this 1981 film instead.
Bottom line: a combination of good acting and nice writing, but marred by a slow pace and really unsympathetic characters.
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Malevil - Die Bombe ist gefallen
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime2 hours
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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