Reading the synopsis above does a pretty good job of explaining how crazy/ambitious of a stunt this was, but doesn't really do justice to the price that was paid by so many who were hired to help get Mr. Miura up Mount Everest so he could put on a pair of skis and do one of the craziest things a person has ever attempted. This film really is a dichotomy between the grandeur of the stunt vs. the price paid for this entirely self-indulgent, off the wall crazy foray into one's ego. The actual stunt itself is probably the most thrilling thing ever put on film and is incredibly exciting especially for a generation brought up with extreme sports, but only showing this scene betrays the intent of the film, which is to portray the unnecessary suffering of the poor Sherpa's who lost their lives because they had no other option but to accept the job. This film is incredibly sad and exciting at the same time and is a perfect metaphor for the first world (Miura's Japan) taking advantage of the third world (the ethnic Sherpa people of Nepal) for purely selfish means. For the classroom it checks several boxes because of the fact it is immensely exciting, borderline crazy, yet manages to illustrate how the inequality in economic power between nations can lead to pure exploitation, damaging the indigenous cultures so you can for instance, ski down Mount Everest!
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Devastating first-hand account of the Atomic bombings and their aftermath
25 November 2020
White Light/Black Rain is a devastating portrait of the horrors that the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki faced during and after the Atomic Bombings, doing so through vivid, haunting firsthand accounts from survivors of the blasts. This film illuminates the suffering of those who survived, while contrasting that with interviews of young, modern Japanese who when asked about what happened in 1945, surprisingly, have no clue. This is a revelatory example of a unique aspect of Japanese culture. In remaking themselves into a capitalist technology obsessed society, it seems to want to almost forget about the nightmares of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The price paid for this willful forgetfulness usually falls squarely on the shoulders of the aging survivors, who have been discriminated against as if they were pariahs while constantly being tested on for scientific purposes since the bombings. Thankfully there are films like these to help keep the firsthand accounts recorded for future generations. This film also has firsthand accounts of the American pilots and scientists, who didn't even understand the potential effects of radiation, that helped foster this horrifying event, but for the purpose of this database we should focus on the firsthand Japanese accounts, giving visual examples to why these weapons should never be used again. All too often in American history we acknowledge these attacks as the end of the war and eventual cause for celebration. With White Light/Black Rain, we see though the war may have ended, these nightmarish bombs destroyed so many innocent lives.
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