White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
by Steven Okazaki
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Etsuko Nagano, Harold Agnew, Lawrence Johnson (VII), Pan Yeon Kim, Sakue ShimodairaDirector: Steven Okazaki
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; Japanese (Original Language); Korean (Original Language); English (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 85 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-08-07
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Movie Reviews of White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Movie Review: From an old man
Summary: 5 Stars
I had personal reasons for wanting to get out of the Army, even though it had given me a safe and easy job. The war seemed to be going on forever. If I had known beforehand of the existence of an atomic bomb that could end the war, my first impulse would be to use it.
President Truman was more reflective. He was a plain man, and had not witnessed an atomic explosion. His judgment used the number of lives, both American and Japanese, that would be lost or saved. He believed that the Japanese people would not surrender unless American soldiers fought to occupy all of Japan, with a huge loss of life. He concluded that lives could be saved by dropping a bomb on a Japanese city.
The scientists who had witnessed the first atomic explosion in New Mexico felt differently. Their leader, J. Robert Oppenheimer, gained an appointment with the President, and pleaded that a bomb not be dropped on people. (See "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer"). But Oppenheimer was excited, and made a poor choice of words. He said that he had blood on his hands. The President said that the blood was on HIS hands, and he must make the judgment.
As the DVD describes, there was a small medical study of the effects of the bombs on the survivors. Humans at ground zero were simply vaporized. I have read that some of them a little further out survived, but temporarily lost all sense of human kinship. They were just machines, running around desperately. These people should have been interviewed extenively. It's too late for that now. Most of them have passed on.
But White Light/Black Rain finally gives us the impressions of those who were only children in 1945. Morally and compassionately, its message is that atomic bombs must never again be dropped on humans.
But there is also a more ultimate message: Isn't it almost inevitable that a nuclear world war would be the end of our species and our world? Now it's hydrogen bombs rather than atomic, fusion instead of only fission. The arsenals of hydrogen bombs held by the United States and Russia would cover the world. A resurgent Russia is as ready as we are.
In the face of this threat, we recall the decades of peace during the "cold war". It was generally understood during that period that local wars would not involve nuclear weapons. A dangerous weakening of this is the study of "tactical nuclear weapons". That study should be terminated. There is no way to draw a hard line between tactical and strategic.
In international diplomacy, we should respect the Russian sphere of influence. Our attitude should be conciliatory rather than confrontational.
It is to be wished that politicians see and think about "White Light/Black Rain". Can they find time for it while concentrating on getting elected?
Summary of White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Through the powerful recollections of atomic bomb survivors White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki an extraordinary new film by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Okazaki presents a deeply moving look at the painful legacy of the first -- and hopefully last -- uses of thermonuclear weapons in war. Featuring interviews with fourteen atomic bomb survivors - many who have never spoken publicly before - and four Americans intimately involved in the bombings White Light/Black Rain provides a detailed exploration of the bombings and their aftermath.? In a succession of riveting personal accounts the film reveals both unimaginable suffering and extraordinary human resilience.Running Time: 86 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:?DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. UPC:?026359438929 Manufacturer No:?94389Documentary DVD Video
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