Dead Man's Letters story

movie: Dead Mans Letters (1986) · 1986-09-15

In the aftermath of a nuclear war, a Nobel Prize in Physics laureate shelters together with a small group of children and adults in the basement of the former museum of history.

14 total · 7 major · 7 minor

Theme	Level	Motivation
coping with the death of a child	major	Professor Larsen was unable to come to terms with the reality that his son Eric has almost certainly perished in the nuclear war, but found some solace in writing letters in his mind to him.
despair	major	The nuclear war survivors shared a bleak outlook over any prospects of rebooting civilization, and they mostly resigned themselves to accepting that humankind was done for.
hope	major	At the conclusion of the film Professor Larsen left the orphans with this message of hope for the future: "For while a man is on his way, there is still hope for him".
nuclear holocaust	major	The story is set in a town in the aftermath of a full-scale nuclear war that had rendered the Earth's surface virtually uninhabitable.
nuclear weapons	major	The story is set in a town in the aftermath of a full-scale nuclear war that had rendered the Earth's surface virtually uninhabitable.
post-apocalyptic dystopia	major	We saw a post nuclear holocaust scenario whereby the "lucky" survivors had to survive as best they could in underground bunkers and basements.
surviving in a wasteland	major	We saw a post nuclear holocaust scenario whereby the "lucky" survivors had to survive as best they could in underground bunkers and basements.
childhood trauma	minor	Professor Larsen took pity on a group of orphans who were so traumatized by the nuclear war and its aftermath that they were unable to speak.
Christmas traditions	minor	Professor Larsen celebrated Christmas by decorating the most sorry looking excuse for a tree that one can imagine together with a band of traumatized orphans.
compassion	minor	Professor Larsen took in a band of orphans that nobody else was willing to care for.