August 6th of this year marks the 70th anniversary of the drop of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, and the dawn of the atomic age. The BBC is marking the occasion with a week long series of programming beginning Sunday called BBC Four Goes Nuclear.
Kicking off the program on Sunday is a new documentary by Mark Cousins, “Storyville: Atomic – Living In Dread And Promise.” Cousins, of course, is the man behind the unprecedented “The Story Of Film: An Odyssey,” the 15-hour doc that redefined the history of cinema.
READ MORE: Review: Mark Cousins’ ‘Life May Be’
‘Storyville: Atomic’ explores life in the atomic age, from the death and destruction of the bombs, to the improvements in quality of life provided by X-Rays and MRIs, all done featuring only archive film and a brand new score by Scottish rockers Mogwai. The band has done soundtrack work in the past for the football doc “Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait” and for the Darren Aronofsky film “The Fountain,” both from 2006. The band also scored the French TV series, "Les Revenants." But ‘Storyville: Atomic’ will be their first crack at feature length scoring in nearly a decade.
To say the least, the pairing of Cousins and Mogwai is an exciting one. “Storyville: Atomic – Living In Dread And Promise” premieres this Sunday on BBC. Check out the first trailer below.