Help me find this mysterious (possibly non-US made) film!

March 18, 2008 1:27 PM

Old Movie Filter: This is the question I joined MeFi to ask. I remember seeing a movie, on actual reels, when I was about seven at school. It has haunted me for the last twenty-two years.

The plot involved a school full of children who either a) could not go out in the sun or, b) it rained all the time in some post-apocalyptic scenario. I remember some images of black umbrellas, and the children having to wear dark Lennon-style glasses to protect them when they did go out. I vaguely remember a kindly teacher figure, and it might have been sub-titled. I also seem to remember a narrator, who may have been describing the onscreen action since it wasn't in English in lieu of actual sub-titles.

The film itself may not have been scary or eerie at all, but some of these images--no matter how fragmented--have been with me for ages. Hell, tupperware commercials can be scary when you're seven. I'd love to know. I hope I've given enough to go on.

posted by littlerobothead to media & arts (17 comments total)

Sounds like All Summer in a Day, though I've never seen this version (only read the story).
posted by cashman at 1:31 PM on March 18, 2008

It sounds like the short film version of Bradbury's All Summer in a Day.
posted by nanojath at 1:32 PM on March 18, 2008

It's "All Summer in a Day" By Ray Bradbury

Great story, I still think about it too.
posted by saffronwoman at 1:32 PM on March 18, 2008

All The Summer in a Day?

I've never seen the film mentioned in the article, but it is surely a haunting story that seems to pretty universally burn itself into people's brains.

on preview: Triple shot!
posted by dirtdirt at 1:32 PM on March 18, 2008

All Summe..

(Somewhat OT, but check out this photo posted a while back.)
posted by hobbes at 1:36 PM on March 18, 2008

It's come up on AskMe before, incidentally. Because apparently terrorizing children with the dual spectacle of living in a world with no sun and being locked up by one's vicious grade-school classmates leaves some sort of an lasting impression.
posted by nanojath at 1:36 PM on March 18, 2008 [2 favorites]

Here's the YouTube link All Summer In A Day by Ray Bradbury
posted by ptm at 1:38 PM on March 18, 2008 [1 favorite]

I love you all. I've even discovered bits of it on the 'Tube. Many thanks! I can sleep now!
posted by littlerobothead at 1:41 PM on March 18, 2008

As one commenter on an earlier thread pointed out, this is the exact opposite theme of Asimov';s Nightfall. Gives you too takes on human response to rare events.
posted by ptm at 1:47 PM on March 18, 2008

It was shown on U.S. public television as part of the Canadian series Wonderworks in the 1980s. I have been trying to find episodes of this series on YouTube or DVD and I am SO THANKFUL to ptm!
posted by laconic titan at 1:56 PM on March 18, 2008

In a cruel twist of irony my correct response in the green rain missed the sunlight of best answer.
posted by cashman at 2:05 PM on March 18, 2008

OMG they showed this to us in school, too. I guess they showed it to teach a leason on bullying or something of the kind. I, too, can only remember haunting bits and pieces of it and didn't know the name of the movie. Thanks for asking this question.
posted by sapphirebbw at 3:00 PM on March 18, 2008

Thanks for clearing this up. I always thought people knew about this because it was one of the stories in the Rod Steiger Illustrated Man, since I only saw the first part of that movie.
posted by Rash at 3:21 PM on March 18, 2008

Holy shit. I have definitely seen this and am now being flooded with images from a movie I surely haven't seen in 15 years. Memory is a strange beast.
posted by nonmerci at 4:19 PM on March 18, 2008

Thank you! Incidentally, I've been thinking about this movie lately...I tried to describe it to various people, and they all thought I was making it up.
posted by quentiniii at 4:44 PM on March 18, 2008

Wow, I read this as a kid, and had no idea it was a movie! Thanks for asking this question - going to go watch it now.
posted by bettafish at 7:54 PM on March 18, 2008

I had NO idea it was a movie either - but I really remember reading the story vividly, it's really stuck with me.
So yes, thanks for this!
posted by batgrlHG at 9:41 PM on March 18, 2008