Eight months after the world premiere, “Oppenheimer” arrived in Japan (with warnings about the content of the images) – Observer

Eight months after its world premiere, and with several Oscars under its belt, the feature film “Oppenheimer” premiered in Japan, where the launch of the atomic bombs by the USA continues to represent a national trauma. In some cinemas in Tokyo, according to Reuters, notices were posted warning of the possibility that the images evoked the damage caused by the bombs.

Until now, the film had not been included in Universal Pictures’ film distribution schedule in Japan, which received harsh criticism for the “Barbenheimer” marketing campaign, a phenomenon that brought millions of spectators to cinemas to see the film on the same day. colorful world of Barbie, by Greta Gerwig, and the feature film that portrays the process of creating the atomic bomb by physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, by Christopher Nolan. Warner Bros, responsible for the release of “Barbie”, even apologized for the association.

“Unfortunate”. Japan criticizes insensitivity of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” marketing campaign in the US

According to Reuters, it was the Japanese independent film distributor Bitters Ends that now moved forward with the release of “Oppenheimer” in Japan, which opened this Friday. Some movie theaters in Tokyo posted notices warning of the possibility of the film showing images of nuclear tests that could evoke the human damage caused by the bombs.

Reactions from viewers interviewed by Reuters and The Guardian were mixed. “I’m not sure this is a film that Japanese citizens should make a special effort to see,” one Nolan fan told Reuters. A Hiroshima resident argued, in turn, that he felt “very uncomfortable with some scenes, like the Oppenheimer trial in the USA, at the end”. The atomic bombs dropped by the USA on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed around 200,000 people.

Others point out the fact that the film does not show the human consequences caused by the bombs. “There could have been much more description, representation of the horror of the atomic bombs”, highlighted the 96-year-old former Mayor of Hiroshima, quoted by the British newspaper. “From the point of view of Hiroshima, not enough has been said about the horror of nuclear weapons, but I would encourage people to go see the film,” he says nonetheless.

Masao Tomonaga, atomic bomb survivor and honorary director of the Japanese Red Cross’s Nagasaki atomic bomb hospital, said he believes this is an “anti-nuclear” film. “He thought the lack of footage of atomic bomb survivors was a weak point in the film. But, in fact, Oppenheimer’s lines in dozens of scenes show his shock with the reality of the atomic bomb. That was enough for me,” he stated.

Another spectator, a resident of Hiroshima and an avowed fan of Nolan, considers that, being focused on the “father of the atomic bomb”, it made “sense not to broaden the scope too much to show the consequences” of the bombings in Japan.