They ain’t kidding with the bit about “the end of Love”. This is a very violent, depressing environmental horror tale from the early 1970’s which sets the downbeat vibe with the title sequence showing a parched desert floor with the anguished silhouettes of contorted human figures laboring across it. We then see a montage of car exhaust pipes and factory chimneys spewing out ugly exhaust, polluted waterways and landscapes, and scenes of overcrowded, congested cities. (The title sequence from “Soylent Green”, another grim portrait of a futuristic nightmare society, nicked this montage.) It doesn’t help matters that folkie Roger Whittaker chortles the movie theme song and chronicles the ills of a polluted, dying Earth. Hence, “The End of Love”.
“No Blade of Grass” looks at the extreme measures taken by world governments to combat a deadly virus and its aftermath. Wheat, grass and grain are destroyed which leads to global famine conditions. Millions die. When society starts to collapse, martial law and the extermination of dissenters ensues. A family leaves a stricken London and ventures toward a rural Eden but a hellscape awaits instead.
It is shocking to consider that this movie was made over 50 years ago and conditions of pollution and overpopulation were considered a serious worldwide threat even then. Fast forward to 2023 and we are clearly past the point of no return. The environmental maladies have now surged to unscalable levels. Maybe if we had put more serious effort into dealing with the situation back then we wouldn’t be in quite the mess we are now. Nah! There is always time enough for everything. Famous last words.
(See also “Panic in the Year Zero”)
