Film Series “Scars and Legacies: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Apocalypse”

Thursdays at 7 pm
Roberts Hall 101

Organized by Peter Tillack (Assistant Professor, Modern Languages and Literatures) and Tomomi Yamaguchi (Assistant Professor, Sociology and Anthropology)

	White Light/Black Rain September 11 Directed by Steven Okazaki (2007) Debuting on the 62nd anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this HBO documentary weaves together interviews of fourteen hibakusha (victims of nuclear war) with interviews of the American men who flew the mission. Interspersing the graphic and haunting interviews are paintings and drawings made by the survivors in their attempts to come to terms with the destruction, as well as footage and photographs of the annihilation that had been banned for twenty-five years after the war. The result is an extremely well-crafted evocation of the physical, psychological and social wounds that still fester from those two fateful days sixty-three years ago. One of hibakusha featured in the film is Shigeko Sasamori, who will visit Bozeman/MSU from September 11 to 14. See Trailer.
	Barefoot Gen September 18 Directed by Shinzaki Mamoru (1983) An animated film based on a manga series by the same name and written by a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing, Keiji Nakazawa. “Barefoot Gen” depicts the atomic bomb as having been dropped into the midst of a day at the end of the war, when food was scarce and the futility of continued warfare was obvious. The instantaneous transformation of deprivation into sheer hell is hauntingly rendered through the film’s expressionistic style. “Barefoot Gen” tells the tale of Nakazawa’s heroic struggles amidst the firestorms, the radiation and the deaths of those nearest to him. A moving depiction of the human costs of nuclear warfare, the film has become a classic in Japan. See Trailer.
	Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms September 25 Directed by Sasabe Kiyoshi (2007) Based on the highly acclaimed manga by Kono Fumiyo, who was born and raised in Hiroshima. The film is divided into two stories: “Town of Evening Calm” tells of the life and doomed love story of a Hiroshima woman who suffered from the effects of A-bomb disease, ultimately dying of it in the 1950s. “Country of Cherry Blossoms” features the tale of a second-generation survivor living in contemporary Japan. Both stories describe the impossibility of erasing the memories and effects of the A-bomb attack on the daily lives of the survivors, their families, and friends. Starring Aso Kumiko, Tanaka Reina, Fujimura Shiho and Sakai Masaaki.
	Pica-Don October 2 Directed by Kinoshita Renzo and Kinoshita Sayoko (1978) This short tale by renowned animators Kinoshita Renzo and Kinoshita Sayoko depicts the instant when the atomic bomb exploded—and the minutes immediately before and after that moment. The term “Pica-Don” refers to the A-bomb: “pica” expresses the blinding light, and “don” expresses the enormous boom of the bomb. The quiet, yet powerful animation, drawn by hand, gives the viewers profound insight into how people’s daily lives became totally devastated and irrevocably altered in that single instant.
	Drawing A-Bomb Memories October 2 NHK Special (2002) The local Hiroshima station of NHK, Japan’s public TV agency, put out a call for “drawings by A-bomb survivors,” with cooperation from the City of Hiroshima, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and the Chugoku Newspaper. More than 1,000 drawings were gathered. This documentary by NHK describes the stories of the people behind those drawings. See sample drawings
	Kuroi Ame (Black Rain) October 9 Directed by Imamura Shôhei (1983) Based on the popular novel of the same title by Ibuse Masuji. “Kuroi Ame” is set mainly in the 1950s and would be a melodrama but for the fact that the corrosive effects of the Hiroshima bombing have taken up residence in the lives of the film’s characters. A middle-aged couple, vexed with the problem of marrying off their niece, had avoided the blast and returned to their obliterated neighborhood. On the return voyage, they are pelted by the mysterious black rain that fell hours after the explosion. Thus exposed to radiation, they must contend with its effects on their bodies and their relationships for the rest of their lives. “Kuroi Ame” is a beautifully made film, and the scene of the niece Yasuo, irradiated, no longer marriageable and slowly pulling out clumps of hair from her head is unforgettable.
	Godzilla October 16 Directed by Honda Ishirô (1954) Of the many Godzilla films created between 1954 and 2004, the original Godzilla was the most political, with a clear anti-nuclear theme. The film was inspired by the “Fifth Lucky Dragon incident,” in which a Japanese fishing boat was exposed to the radiation fallout of the U.S. H-bomb experiments on the Bikini Atoll in 1954. Godzilla was a symbol of nuclear weaponry, as the monster was described as having been awakened and mutated by an A-bomb. The American version of the film, edited from the Japanese version and released in 1956, was significantly altered, with its anti-nuclear message obscured. See trailer
	Atomic Café October 23 Directed by Jane Loader, Kevin Rafferty, Pierce Rafferty (1982) An immediate cult classic on its release, “Atomic Café” is a documentary in which archival footage of Cold War propaganda films from the 1940s and 1950s are brilliantly woven together such that they effectively undermine and critique each others messages. Shown against the backdrop of atomic-themed folk songs from the same period, the film enacts a scathing indictment of the US Cold-War policy of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD).
	Radiation—A Slow Death: A New Generation of Hibakusha October 30 Directed by Kamanaka Hitomi (2003) This film is also known as Hibakusha—At the End of the World. The word “hibakusha” means ‘atomic bomb survivors’ in Japanese, and director Kamanaka, who herself suffered from cancer, likely as a result of exposure to depleted uranium in Iraq during the first Gulf War, used the word in this film to cover all victims of radiation poisoning. The radiation victims who appear in this film include Iraqi children who suffer from the aftereffects of depleted uranium used by the U.S. military; Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-bomb survivors; and those who live in Hanford, WA, where plutonium manufacturing plants are located. By making connections among seemingly unrelated locations and situations, the film conveys a powerful message about the dangers of nuclear weapons and nuclear energy. It compellingly exposes the necessity for thinking critically about and acting decisively against these looming threats.
	Commemorative Experience Home

Return to regular view	Text-only	Updated: 9/9/08