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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Willie Oleson" data-source="post: 386079" data-attributes="member: 8">ON THE BEACH (1959)[ATTACH=full]50546[/ATTACH]Already knowing that this story was going to be a worst-case scenario, the end of human life, I was a little worried that the drama would be a) too on the nose and b) a massive downer to watch.I was very surprised to see how enjoyable it was, despite or  because the story's overpowering gloom.But is it really about the Apocalypse?It sounds like the soap opera that couldn't be because it was cancelled before it began, but they filmed it anyway.To me, it looks like a human drama that just happens to happen in apocalyptic times. The story could have been about different characters played by the other actors but that's not the case.This is about them, wonderfully played by Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins, and that's why the film is also its own raison d'être.How often do you see Ava Gardner offering herself as a make-believe substitute for Gregory Peck's deceased story-wife? It happens here.The story is a bit vague about the fallout (the novel isn't, apparently) which adds to the kooky soap opera vibe, like the vague goings-on in a faraway country that enable the Ewings and the Carringtons to do whatever the storyline requires, and to hell with the faraway country in question. After all, The Family is the only thing that matters.To be fair, ON THE BEACH does make a lot of effort to paint the picture, and perhaps it is that bit of vagueness that allows the story to tackle some issues in a broader context, without coming across as a message or warning or accusation.There is almost something forgiving in the way Fred Astaire describes mankind's never-ending quest for better technology even if that technology is a monster that's going to destroy us.And I guess it is against our nature to not  wanting to learn, to not wanting to do better. If we can  create the perfect weapon then it's simply impossible not   to do it."How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb", or something like that.There are no aliens coming, we ourselves will become the aliens. But Doctor Who already knew that.Instead of the histrionics one would expect from a drama like this, the film seems to make a point about our perception of loss.Most of us are familiar with grief, but in order to lose it you have to have it first. The pain one feels in those periods of grief only informs how good it used to be, and that's something to be very grateful for. The biggest loss in life is to never lose anything.Every scene matters, there's never a dull of stilted moment in it and the film is not without humour either. The main reason I watched this film is because I want to see more of Anthony Perkins' earlier films (he's such a natural scene-stealer), and considering the rest of the cast I expected ON THE BEACH to be a good one. It also turned out to be a brilliantly low-key and talkative disaster movie. I think I'll add it to The Collection.</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?