White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (2007)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Steven Okazaki

Writer:

Steven Okazaki (writer)

Release Date:

6 August 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Atomic Bomb

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Harold Agnew	...	Himself
Dr. Shuntaro Hida	...	Himself
Kiyoko Imori	...	Herself
Morris Jeppson	...	Himself
Lawrence Johnston	...	Himself
Pan Yeon Kim	...	Herself
Etsuko Nagano	...	Herself
Keiji Nakazawa	...	Himself
Chiemi Oka	...	Herself
Franklin Delano Roosevelt	...	Himself (archive footage)
Keiko Sasamori	...	Herself
Sakue Shimodaira	...	Herself
Yasuyo Tanaka	...	Herself
Harry S. Truman	...	Himself (archive footage)
Theodore Van Kirk	...	Himself
Katsuji Yoshida	...	Himself
Shoji Yoshida	...	Himself

Runtime:

USA:86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese | Korean

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Hiroshima, Japan

Company:

Farallon Films

Movie Connections:

Features "This Is Your Life" (1952)

Soundtrack:

Christmas Steps

War is not for children.

The total estimated human loss of life caused by World War II, irrespective of political alignment, was roughly 72 million people. This figure includes military and civilian. It includes six million Jews exterminated by the Nazi, and it includes the over 200,000 who died on August 6th and 9th as the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

As one of the children born in Japan during its occupation after the war, I feel a special affinity for the country and its people. As one of those who are concerned about the fate of the world, I feel a special affinity for this film, as it shows the utter horror that can occur when we are relentless in our drive to develop new and more powerful weapons.

It can be argued that the number of deaths caused by the war would be much higher had these 200,000 not been sacrificed, but the larger concern is that we have 400,000 times the power today than that which was unleashed 62 years ago. That should concern every citizen in the World.

This was a moving and powerful documentary. The horrors shown were sometimes hard to stomach. They equal the most horrific horror films on the market today. The part most difficult to think about is that horror films are mostly for adult, but the horrors of these bombings were experienced by children as young as six.

To see your mother crumble to dust in front of you is a pain that is incomprehensible. It is so horrific that some children could not take it and ended their lives. To see children with horrific burns all over their bodies, in excruciating pain for many months, with no relief and wanting to die will touch the hardest hearts.

Many questioned if we were ready for a film like United 93 so soon after September 11th. This film took 62 years before it was decided we were ready. It would be a crime not to see it for yourself.