The War Game
By Kit Macdonald
Written, directed and produced by Peter Watkins for the BBC, The War Game was, according to the corporation's statement on cancelling its provisional TV screening date, "too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting. It will, however, be shown to invited audiences." Made in 1965 at the height of the apparently-impending Cold War endtimes, the film blends a docudrama style with a newsreel format, involving interviews, staged scenes, and a detached narration, to create a harrowing and realistic depiction of nuclear warfare and its aftermath.
Instead of hitting the small screen as intended, The War Game premiered at the National Film Theatre in London in 1966 before touring several international film festivals and garnering huge critical acclaim that culminated in the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 1967 Oscars. It was finally shown on British television in summer 1985, in the build-up to the 40th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing.