Review of Z for Zachariah

Z for Zachariah I first read this book (by the author of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N.I.M.H.) in the late 70's. I've always enjoyed post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels. In the book, a young girl (16) Ann, has survived a nuclear and nerve gas holocaust in her little valley. A stranger arrives, clad in an odd suit, which he calls a safe suit. They eventually set up an uneasy co-existence, that turns hostile, until Ann steals the safe suit and heads out of her valley to try and find other survivors. A bit ludicrous of an idea, that a "meteorological uniqueness" could keep one valley free of radiation and nerve gas (the exact cause of the disaster is never revealed, and her entire family has left, to try and find other survivors) is silly, but the writing is good and the tension between the characters is palpable. The story ends open ended, will Ann survive? How long will John survive along in the protected valley and will it stay protected? Then we have the movie adaptation. A critic's darling, I found it quite dull. While the performances by Margot Robbie (Ann), Chiwetel Ejiofor (John) and Chris Pine (Caleb) excellent, there's other than two or three scenes, very little tension, and the story just plods. Like the book, we are given very little information about the disaster, other than it's by product is radiation. The valley has a contaminated stream running into it, which John bathes in, nearly dying. As Ann and John plan for the future, he wants to build a water wheel to get her generator running, but she resists since that would meaning tearing down the church her father built. As they live their existence, John admits his feelings for her, she for him. Then enters the wild card (A part not in the book) Caleb, a survivor from a mine to the north arrives. A bit more tension, but it never feels like anyone is in danger. Caleb has sex with Ann, they tear down the church and build the water wheel, giving them electricity and in a very open ended move, John returns alone, claiming that Caleb who was using the safe suit while they build the water wheel, Ann conveniently off at the house, we never know if John tells the truth that Caleb took the safe suit and went south, to where there are presumably other survivors, or if he was murdered. The end. Yes, I found this boring. I also found it derivative of several other films, one a 1950's film called "The World, The Flesh and the Devil." In that three survivors, one from a mine, all meet in a very undestroyed NYC, after a nuclear war. The "meteorological uniqueness" is similar to Australia's survival for a while from "On the Beach", and the idea of a protected valley comes from Roger Corman's "The Day the World Ended", where the survivors live in a valley loaded with lead deposits in the surrounding hills. So overall, while the performances were quite good, in fact it's hard to believe that Margot Robbie is Australian, she sounds, much like Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs, doing the same West Virginia accent, the movie just dragged. I'm glad I watched this on pay per view, rather than going to the movies.