Hacker Cinema
Barefoot Gen
はだしのゲン
1983 · Film · 83 min
Directed by Mori Masaki
A story about the effect of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on a boy's life and the lives of the Japanese people.
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4 comments on Hacker News
Sure, but look at the larger context-- those two pieces of media first and foremost are anime which are where more of Japan's risque takes occur. Barefoot Gen was made by Madhouse, which was an extremely new studio at the time. These aren't live action movies made by some conservative, pre War joint stock company like Toho. Cold War 198X also has nuclear war depicted in it accurately from a military perspective, but again, it's anime.
And yes, it's the same in the United States. There are plenty of films that criticize the US government or elements of it. In the 1950s, there were Westerns which did it. In the 70s and 80s, there were Vietnam war movies which did it. Post 9/11, you have Snowden-related movies, or even movies like Captain America 2.
However, yes the DoD offers many incentives for portraying US weapons systems as cool, or US forces in a positive light to "content" makers (I hesitate to call them films).
As Japan rearms to face China, and seeks to boost recruitment we will see more of this patriotic attitude. And maybe Godzilla will be China one day.
(It's hilarious, because in China's recent Korean War films, the United States is scarier than Godzilla to their troops who spend 80% of the movie running away and dying).
(Your comment is very good and insightful; I'm just pointing these things out anyway).
> People there have to use metaphors to talk about getting nuked
... Not really, it's presented pretty directly in Barefoot Gen or in this corner of the world.
In the USA, you can make a movie portraying the US military in a bad light, but not only would it be harder to find an audience, it would also be much more expensive to make the movie. The reason is the US military offers assistance, staff, and equipment to filmmakers for free, as long as they're portrayed as the good guys.
Barefoot Gen was also adapted as an anime movie and it's... rough. Another heart-wrenching anime related to the bombings is Grave of the Fireflies.
My favourite:
Let the right one in (the original version), beautiful atmospheric movie: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt1139797
Other recommendations:
City of God, harsh but realistic: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0317248
Barefoot Gen, shock and awe, made me cry, IMHO better than Grave of the Fireflies: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0085218/
The Chaser, breathtaking thriller: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt1190539/
The Andromeda Strain, now this is real SF: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0066769
The Man from Earth, good low budget SF: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0756683
Castaway on the Moon: funny movie about a man that 'bootstraps' his life on a 'stranded island' after a failed suicide attempt: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1499666/
I saw the devil, violent but very good thriller: http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt1588170/?ref_=sr_1