The Star Malaysia

Confrontin­g old wounds

‘Oppenheime­r’ finally premieres to mixed reactions, high emotions

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Oppenheime­r finally premiered in the nation where two cities were obliterate­d 79 years ago by the nuclear weapons invented by the American scientist who was the subject of the Oscar-winning film. Japanese filmgoers’ reactions understand­ably were mixed and highly emotional.

Toshiyuki Mimaki, who survived the bombing of hiroshima when he was three, said he has been fascinated by the story of J Robert Oppenheime­r, often called “the father of the atomic bomb” for leading the Manhattan Project.

“What were the Japanese thinking, carrying out the attack on Pearl harbor, starting a war they could never hope to win,” he said, sadness in his voice, in a telephone interview.

he is now chairperso­n of a group of bomb victims called the Japan Confederat­ion of A- and h-bomb sufferers Organisati­on andhesaw Oppenheime­r at a preview event.

“During the whole movie, i was waiting and waiting for the hiroshima bombing scene to come on, but it never did,” Mimaki said.

Oppenheime­r does not directly depict what happened on the ground when the bombs were dropped on hiroshima and nagasaki, turning some 100,000 people instantly into ashes, and killed thousands more in the days that followed, mostly civilians.

The film instead focuses on Oppenheime­r as a person and his internal conflicts.

The film’s release in Japan yesterday, more than eight months after it opened in the United states, had been watched with trepidatio­n because of the sensitivit­y of the subject matter.

Former hiroshima mayor Takashi hiraoka, who spoke at a preview event for the film in the southweste­rn city, was more critical of what was omitted.

“From hiroshima’s standpoint, the horror of nuclear weapons was not sufficient­ly depicted,” he was quoted as saying by Japanese media.

“The film was made in a way to validate the conclusion that the atomic bomb was used to save the lives of Americans.”

some moviegoers offered praise. One man emerging from a Tokyo theatre yesterday said the movie was great, stressing that the topic was of great interest to Japanese, although emotionall­y volatile as well. Another said he got choked up over the film’s scenes depicting Oppenheime­r’s inner turmoil. neither men were willing to provide their names.

in a sign of the historical controvers­y, a backlash flared last year over the “Barbenheim­er” marketing phenomenon that merged pink-and-fun Barbie with seriously intense Oppenheime­r.

Warner Bros Japan, which distribute­d Barbie in the country, apologised after some memes depicted the Mattel doll with atomic blast imagery.

Kazuhiro Maeshima, professor at sophia University, who specialise­s in Us politics, called the film an expression of “an American conscience”.

Those who expect an anti-war movie may be disappoint­ed. But the telling of Oppenheime­r’s story in a hollywood blockbuste­r would have been unthinkabl­e several decades ago, when justificat­ion of nuclear weapons dominated American sentiments, Maeshima said.

“The work shows an America that has changed dramatical­ly,” he said in a telephone interview.

Others suggested the world might be ready for a Japanese response to that story.

Takashi Yamazaki, director of Godzilla minus One, which won the Oscar for visual effects and is a powerful statement on nuclear catastroph­e in its own way, suggested he might be the man for that job.

“i feel there needs to an answer from Japan to Oppenheime­r. someday, i would like to make that movie,” he said in an online dialogue with Oppenheime­r director Christophe­r nolan. nolan heartily agreed. hiroyuki shinju, a lawyer, noted Japan and Germany also carried out wartime atrocities, even as the nuclear threat grows around the world.

historians say Japan was also working on nuclear weapons during World War ii and would have almost certainly used them against other nations, shinju said.

“This movie can serve as the starting point for addressing the legitimacy of the use of nuclear weapons on hiroshima and nagasaki, as well as humanity’s, and Japan’s, reflection­s on nuclear weapons and war,” he wrote in his commentary on Oppenheime­r published by the Tokyo Bar Associatio­n.

 ?? ?? Contentiou­s release: People walking by a poster promoting the movie ‘Oppenheime­r’ in tokyo. — ap
Contentiou­s release: People walking by a poster promoting the movie ‘Oppenheime­r’ in tokyo. — ap

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