When this film came out my family would not see such things, but I caught it a long time afterwards on television -- and have the sinking feeling it was cut (naturally). I too think Milland's creation was good, at least as good as NO BLADE OF GRASS eight or nine years later. The premise of YEAR ZERO is more probable, although one might be tempted with naivete au courrant to call it "dated." In a world still armed to the teeth even after the great bi-polar confrontation, never under-estimate the possibility of some ghastly mistake.
What no one seems to have caught in the credits, is that YEAR ZERO is based upon a classic short story which I read as a teen-ager, "Lot's Daughter." The story is substantially different, taking place perhaps ten years after the Ragnorok. The family has been in hiding most of that time living very rough, the mother long dead, and it is mostly a psychological study of father and daughter. The former is part of the old society, still shaken to the bottom of his soul, while the latter is a young woman now and eager to find a new life that does not cower in the bush. The ending is symbolic and sad, unlike the fairly positive close of YEAR ZERO.
What no one seems to have caught in the credits, is that YEAR ZERO is based upon a classic short story which I read as a teen-ager, "Lot's Daughter." The story is substantially different, taking place perhaps ten years after the Ragnorok. The family has been in hiding most of that time living very rough, the mother long dead, and it is mostly a psychological study of father and daughter. The former is part of the old society, still shaken to the bottom of his soul, while the latter is a young woman now and eager to find a new life that does not cower in the bush. The ending is symbolic and sad, unlike the fairly positive close of YEAR ZERO.