ON THE BEACH

Screening in association with Lawrence Johnston's Fallout and to mark the centenary of Stanley Kramer's birth, MIFF presents On the Beach on the big screen.

"The war started when people accepted the idiotic principle that peace could be maintained by arranging to defend themselves with weapons they couldn't possibly use without committing suicide."

It's 1964, and most of the world has been destroyed in an atomic war. A US submarine takes refuge in one of the few surviving countries left standing: Australia. But as the grieving submarine commander (Gregory Peck) finds love with a local woman (Ava Gardner), it becomes clear that the creeping nuclear fallout will only give them 12 months to live.

From legendary director Stanley Kramer comes Hollywood's most famous Cold War-era post-apocalyptic film. Shot in and around Melbourne of the 1950s, it's a fascinating snapshot of how the city looked a half-century ago, and how it might look in in a future we must avoid.

"The great merit of this picture is the fact that it carries a passionate conviction that man is worth saving, after all." – New York Times

D/P Stanley Kramer S John Paxton, Nevil Shute Dist National Film & Sound Archive TD 35mm/1959

Print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive

Find the book at Readings, or read an extended Senses of Cinema dossier about On the Beach here.