Something I would like to investigate in the future. On the Beach, the film adaptation of Nevil Shute's 1957 novel, was directed by Stanley Kramer and starred Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins. It depicts the aftermath of a global nuclear war in Melbourne, Australia, which has been spared by the disaster. The rest of the world is presumably destroyed, but there is no certainty, and no one is even sure of how the war was started -- all that is known is that the northern hemisphere has been devastated and the atmosphere has been poisoned from nuclear fallout. It is estimated that five months remain until the fallout reaches southern Australia.
From this starting point, I would like to investigate how the film deals with the end of history, and by extension, the end of stories. Rather than the world ending with chaos, the last of humanity fades away with a sigh of everyday life. Drinking port, fishing for trout, endless cups of tea, playing on the beach, racing boats and cars, taking care of the baby, religious gatherings, pomp and circumstance.
The film is a mixture of kitchen sink drama, love stories, and military missions to investigate the possibility of survival, with numerous frescoes of daily life as depicted by cinema (the kind of stuff that we see as 'everyday life' when watching movies, but no one actually does on a daily basis). We don't have the thrilling chase scenes. There is very little dramatic discussion over the nuclear holocaust. Even the love story between Peck and Gardner barely reaches the level of melodrama. The film is a stately sigh, more mournful than gut-wrenching.
What kind of stories will be told when time comes to an end? Will we have the exciting drama that we expect -- the collapse of civilization, the looting, the rampages? Or will our final days be with our loved ones, drinking tea and reminiscing of how we met? On the Beach is part of the apocalyptic lore that explores the possibility of numb civility, rather than the Mad Max chaos many of us think of when we hear "post-apocalyptic fiction".
It would be a very interesting study to identify the literature in which On the Beach exists. The ones that I can think of immediately, however, have a significant difference: they all feature the possibilities of humanity continuing on. It is a hope for more stories to be told. On the Beach doesn't do this: what we are shown is the end. There are no more tales to tell. Who is the banner speaking to in the final shot? "There Is Still Time .. Brother" it tells us -- but there is no one there to see it.
Other possibilities to explore:
The use of "Waltzing Matilda"
Evidence for humanity elsewhere -- or the lack thereof
Vignette style editing
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