White Light\Black Rain: The Destruction Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki

Synopsis: As global tensions rise, the unthinkable threat of nuclear war has become very real--and very frightening. Through the powerful recollections of the survivors of the atomic bombs that leveled two Japanese cities in 1945, this film presents a deeply moving look at the painful legacy of the first--and hopefully last--uses of thermonuclear weapons in war. Directed by Oscar(R)-winning filmmaker Steven Okazaki (1990's 'Days of Waiting'), 'White Light, Black Rain' provides a comprehensive, moving account of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from the unique points of view of the people, both Japanese and American, who were there.
Genre: Documentary
Director(s): Steven Okazaki
Production: HBO
  Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 2 nominations.
 
IMDB:
8.4
Rotten Tomatoes:
100%
NOT RATED
Year:
2007
86 min
1,202 Views


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What historical event

occurred on August 6, 1945?

l don't know. Do you?

l'm bad at history.

l don't know.

l don't know.

l don't know.

l don't know.

Do you?

We don't know.

Something important

happened?

An earthquake?

For a very long time,

l was afraid

to talk about

my experience.

Why did l survive?

l was so close

to ground zero

l've come to realize

the reason l'm alive

is to tell people

what happened,

so they'll understand.

A popular magazine

asked me

to create a comic

about my life.

The response

was so great

the editor asked me

to turn it into

a full-length project.

That's how ''Barefoot Gen''

got started.

The bright flash.

We were hit by the blast.

l was 6 years old.

l remember it so well.

lt had such a huge

impact on my life.

l remember every detail.

lf l had to recreate it

as a movie set, l could.

At the time,

l was 10 years old.

And l was 9.

Our orphanage

had about 20 babies.

We were the oldest kids,

so we had to help

with the infants--

washing and folding

the diapers.

We were friends

before the bomb.

Since we were

little, right?

We grew up together.

Our bond

comes from eating out

of the same pot everyday.

l was in the first grade

when the war began.

The war dominates

every single memory.

l really don't have

any happy memories.

All l remember

is the fear

and the running

and hiding.

The memory of

being with my family

has faded away.

l carried this pain

in my heart

that l couldn't

talk about.

Even now,

l can't say

my sister's name aloud.

lt hurts too much.

l was 1 3 at the time.

No one was allowed to

see the emperor's face.

He was considered

a descendant of God.

At school, there was

a portrait of him.

We would bow

and pay our respects.

That was

the Japanese way.

l was 20 years old.

l was a university student.

As men,

lt was our duty

to go to war--

to die,

to fall like petals

off a flower--

that was our destiny.

The army was in Hiroshima,

so whenever the soldiers

passed us

we had to bow to them.

The air was full

of patriotism.

Bravely, l left my hometown

and went off to war.

ln 1945, l was a doctor

at Hiroshima

Army Hospital.

At the start of

the war with America

many Japanese

were excited

believing that

we were winning.

But then...

their sons began dying,

one after another.

Mothers and wives

began to feel

an increasing anxiety

as the war continued.

Though the government kept

saying we were winning,

the people realized

Japan couldn't win.

Even as kids we understood,

we were losing the war.

Any fool could see it.

We didn't have anything.

We needed everything.

We didn't even have shoes.

How could we win the war?

Lets see, at the time,

l was 8 years old.

During the war,

Japan confiscated all of Korea's rice.

So there was nothing

for Koreans to eat.

They had to come here

or starve.

That's how l encountered

the bomb.

There was a slogan

that said:

''Desire nothing,

until we win the war.''

Everyday, combat

planes flew over,

but we just

continued playing.

Each airplane had

a particular sound.

l could tell the difference.

Everyday,

from morning to night

we heard air raid sirens,

but Hiroshima

wasn't bombed.

l wasn't afraid.

Even when

the B-29s flew over,

l would just say,

''Oh, there's an airplane.''

Hiroshima was fairly safe

until the atomic bomb.

On the day of the bomb,

the air raid

siren sounded,

but then it

was cancelled.

So everyone came out

and went on with the day.

l was 14 years old.

l was digging out

an air raid shelter

in preparation

for a possible attack

so we'd have

a place to hide.

l was 16 years old

at the time.

l worked at

the post office

sorting and

delivering the mail.

At that moment,

l was on my bicycle

about to deliver a letter.

When l woke up

that morning

l was already

late for work.

l had to get back

to the hospital.

l'd just arrived

at school.

and l realized

l'd forgotten my books.

At 8:
15, l'd just

arrived at school.

and l was changing

my shoes.

Since we were Catholic,

we were at church.

We had just

given confession.

My mother was on

the second floor

putting the laundry

on the clothes line.

Downstairs,

my older sister

was getting ready

for school.

My father was

also downstairs

reading the newspaper

before he went to work.

My little brother,

Susumu

was 4 years old.

He was sitting

by the front door

playing with

his toy boats.

We were eating and suddenly

we saw the flash!

Everything was

enveloped

in this enormous flash.

People talk about the flash

and the thunderous sound.

l didn't hear anything.

The light streamed in

and filled the room.

Suddenly,

we felt the blast

and were thrown

into the air.

We tumbled

hit the wall.

Then l passed out.

l was buried

under the house

and knocked unconscious.

The heat blast

knocked me down.

l flew through

the house.

l knew l was

flying because

l could see the floor

moving below me.

l flew 150 feet,

past a field, over a road

and into a rice field.

My mind was blank.

The only thing

l knew was

l had to find

a safe place.

Those who saw

it up close,

they all died.

Few people saw it as l did

from a safe distance.

Out of nowhere,

a bright red circle

of fire formed.

A ring.

A white cloud formed.

lt grew huge

and kept expanding

until it

touched the ring

and turned into

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Steven Okazaki

Steven Toll Okazaki (born March 12, 1952 in Venice, California) is an American filmmaker. He is Sansei Japanese American (3rd generation) and is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has received a Peabody Award and been nominated for four Academy Awards, winning an Oscar for the documentary short subject, Days of Waiting: The Life & Art of Estelle Ishigo (1990). more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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