Hacker Cinema
The Atomic Cafe
1982 · Film · documentary · 86 min
Directed by Jayne Loader, Kevin Rafferty, Pierce Rafferty
A disturbing collection of 1940s and 1950s United States government-issued propaganda films designed to reassure Americans that the atomic bomb was not a threat to their safety.
5 positive1 neutralfrom 6 commenters
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7 comments on Hacker News
Atomic Cafe is a very funny take on origins of the bomb and the birth of the Cold War's nuclear standoff - with lots of grim material though, such as the original films of the effects of nuclear weapons on Japanese people, i.e. the material that was left out of "Oppenheimer". Atomic Cafe is available online in full:
https://youtu.be/i9xQTJ-kbUk
These are my all-time favorites. Sorry if not fitting your "watched in 2022" criteria.
Brother Can You Spare a Dime (1975) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072742/
Thank You For Not Breeding (10+ years ago) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abDpktpk7Is
The Atomic Cafe (1982) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083590/
Born Rich (2003) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0342143/
Bonus documentaries (reality projections):
Idiocracy (2006) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/
Koyaanisqatsi(1982) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085809/
Brazil (1985) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088846/
Dr Strangelove was obviously about the absurdity of trying to plan for nuclear war, but the ending credit scene of nuclear bombs exploding while playing "We'll Meet Again" by Vera Lynne sounds like it might have influenced "The Atomic Cafe".
Interestingly, the detail in the linked document that made me think of a movie was the improvised lean-to shelter. One of the protagonists in the British film "When The Wind Blows" built one in his house while following a similar guide.
This reminded me of the better documentary films I have seen, The Atomic Cafe (1982).
It is a well-crafted film, with a neat-o formal technique of only using found footage/ audio to describe the history of US atomic-age propaganda.
More interestingly to me, it offers a useful commentary about the contradictions between the use of media to present nuclear wars a survivable and possibly necessary event but simultaneously an existential threat that requires the total resources of the state to avoid. The ending of the film seems especially useful as footage of naive "duck and cover" drills is juxtaposed with (legitimately terrifying) images of actual bomb blasts.
I think, in general, it recalled this bit: "Christopher Isherwood gave expression to this unreality of the American daily life, exemplified in the motel room: "American motels are unreal! /.../ they are deliberately designed to be unreal. /.../ The Europeans hate us because we've retired to live inside our advertisements, like hermits going into caves to contemplate.""
The scale and effect of radiation was not appreciated in the 40's and probably not into the 60's, given the scale of air testing. I thought much/most of the cast of a John Wayne movie (Ghengis Khan?) ended up with some kind of cancer after being downwind of a Nevada test?
Look for The Atomic Cafe on the 'Net to see what the training films from back then had to say.
There is a classic epic documentary from 1986 about the atomic bomb, called "The Atomic Café", 1h26m.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF0r1OdDIME
The documentary has an interesting making, as it has of course a message, but has no narrator. The movie is a mix-cut of original footage from news reels from 40s and 50s and the narration is in original voices. This conveys a very unique atmosphere of those times.
So, there once scene from the old educational cartoon "duck and cover", showing children how to survive an A-bomb blast. This is then put in contrast to the immense destruction force of an H-bomb.
The move is worth re-watching.
Riding Solo to the Top of the World (2006) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903013/
The Atomic Cafe (1982) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083590/
At Sea (2007) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1829648/
The Vietnam War (2017) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1877514/
Lessons of Darkness (1992) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104706/
Tim's Vermeer (2013) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3089388/
Weiner (2016) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5278596/
Jodorowsky's Dune (2013) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1935156/
Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379357/
The Art of Japanese Life (2017) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7002974/
The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief (2006) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0493420/
The Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires (1996) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115398/
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (2015) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4299972/