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David Bowie Does Murakami: When The Wind Blows
ZF Team
Jimmy Murakami's 1986 animated masterpiece When The Wind Blows (1986) was based on Raymond Briggs' graphic novel with the same name.
The Japanese-American director put his soul into the 2D animation story of an elderly British couple who try (in vain) to cope with the aftermath of a nuclear catastrophe, voiced superbly by John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft.
David Bowie provided the haunting title song, When the Wind Blows, for the film. The music video was directed by Steve Barron and Murakami.
The single was not a success (it peaked at no. 44 in the UK box office), and has rarely featured in David Bowie's collection, apart from a 2007 extended mix. Bowie was not new to Raymond Briggs' world. He introduced the 26-minute TV special The Snowman in 1982.
Bowie was scheduled to write the complete soundtrack for When the Wind Blows, but other commitments led him to assign the work to Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, who completed the score. Here's the song as it was featured in the film:
RIP David Bowie.
