The title comes from the Old Testament, "I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live". Inspired by that text, Erwin Leiser, creator of the successful Mein Kampf, presents the situation of man in the nuclear age.

The film opens in rural Mexico, where simple folk happily accept the inevitability of death, just as they enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Dramatically, the film switches to Hiroshima with the reminder of the aftermath produced by that one single bomb. The film then covers other countries, using both archive and new material, with a convincing note of optimism permeating throughout. Man wants to live.

Award of the Swiss Government.