Oppenheimer arrives eight months later in Japan surrounded by controversy: “It made me very sick to see the euphoria with the launching of the atomic bombs” | EUROtoday

She swept the Oscars, the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs, starring in final summer time's movie phenomenon Barbenheimer and grossed virtually $1 billion on the worldwide field workplace, however the final huge hit of Christopher Nolan had not reached Japan till this Friday.

The method of Oppenheimer It was all the time destined to boost blisters in Japan. How may he not do it? The movie portrays the extreme months throughout which the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, baptized because the “father of the atomic bomb”, led the ultra-secret Manhattan Project and describes the ins and outs previous to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 79 years in the past. which triggered the moment dying of 100,000 Japanesealong with that of hundreds extra within the following days as a consequence of radiation publicity.

It didn't assist that Warner Bros. shared memes on its X account through which the Mattel doll appeared surrounded by pictures of atomic explosions, which sparked controversy in Japan and compelled the studio to difficulty an apology to the Japanese authorities, who referred to as “extremely deplorable” publications.

What occurred in August 1945, which led to the definitive finish of the Second World War, is without doubt one of the nonetheless open wounds within the nation's historical past, which is why the producers of the movie selected to not launch it alongside its companion on the billboard. , Barbiein August, delaying its launch indefinitely.

Christopher Nolan himself acknowledged final 12 months that the projection of Oppenheimer in Japan it must be “taking a very careful approach” to Japanese sensitivities. “But the film has been shown all over the world, so I think it's appropriate that film lovers in Japan, people who are interested in seeing this work, after having heard about it in the rest of the world, have the opportunity to do it,” the director advised the publication CinemaBlend.

But discovering a distributor to launch the movie was not straightforward. Toho-Towa, which manages many of the content material for Universal Studios in Japan, didn’t wish to carry the movie to the nation. According to Varietya large search was launched, led by promoting large Dentsu, to search out an alternate.

In the top, with the backing of Universal, the unbiased distributor Bitters End scheduled its launch for final Friday. The firm defined in an announcement issued in December that the choice was made after months of “thoughtful dialogue” on the matter: “We feel that Christopher Nolan has created a singular cinematic experience that transcends traditional storytelling and that must be seen on the big screen. “We invite the viewers to see the movie with their very own eyes when it arrives in Japan.”

And it has finally arrived, eight months later, and there are reactions for all tastes.

“Of course it’s an unimaginable movie that deserves to win the Oscar,” Kawai, 37, who lives in Hiroshima, told Reuters. “But the film additionally represents the atomic bomb in a method that appears to reward itand as an individual with roots in Hiroshima, I discovered it tough to look at.

An awesome admirer of Nolan's movies, Kawai, a public official, went to see Oppenheimer on opening day at a theater situated only a kilometer from town's Atomic Bomb Dome. “I'm not sure it's a movie Japanese people should make a special effort to see,” he added.

Another viewer, Erika Abiko, didn’t hesitate to precise her rejection. “It made me very sick to see the euphoria of the people.“, his pleasure on the experiment and the launching of the atomic bombs,” he told the BBC in reference to how the film shows the celebrations for the success of the Manhattan Project.

Toshiyuki Mimaki survived the bombing of Hiroshima when he was 3 years old and now chairs the Japanese Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Victims' Organization. He lamented, in a telephone interview with AP, that the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was never shown. on screen and that everything is told from Oppenheimer's point of view. “Throughout the entire film, I used to be ready and ready for the Hiroshima bombing scene to begin, however it by no means occurred“, affirms the Japanese.

The former mayor of Hiroshima, Takashi Hiraoka, was more critical of the film. “From the perspective of Hiroshima, the horror of nuclear weapons was not sufficiently represented,” the politician told Japanese media during a preview event. “The movie has been made in a method that validates the conclusion that the atomic bomb was used to save lots of American lives.”

For its part, Takashi Yamazakidirector of Godzilla minus one, which won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects – and which in its own way constitutes a powerful statement about the nuclear catastrophe – has suggested that he could be the right man to tell the Japanese response to Nolan's film. “I really feel that Japan wants to offer a solution to Oppenheimer. “Someday I would like to make that film,” he acknowledged in a digital dialogue with the British director just a few weeks in the past. Nolan strongly agreed.