White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

..so that we lead humanity in better direction! It is heartbreaking to see what we are capable of doing to each other. Just watch it and remember.

When I visited Hiroshima less than two months ago I thought that I knew quite a lot about the the events at the end of the second world war in the Pacific including the atomic bombs that were dropped upon Japan in order to reach a faster end of the war. Nothing was however comparable with seeing the destruction of Hiroshima at first hand in the Peace Museum, as well as the impressing memorial monuments in the Hiroshima Peace Park. Now comes this documentary by American-born Steven Okazaki which complements the images and the information that I acquired during my visit in Japan.

Let me say that it's one of the best historical and investigative documentaries that I have seen in years, if not the best. There are many direct witnesses that present the two sides of the event - the Japanese survivors of the atomic bombardments in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who were most of them kids in 1945 and who carried for the rest of their lives the physical pain in their flesh and the psychological traumas in their souls, and the American crewmen who seem to have gained awareness about the dimensions of the event they participated in, but show almost no trace of guilt or remorse for their actions. Some of the pictures taken immediately after the bombing which some of them - it is said in the film - are being seen for the first time in public are shocking and succeed to convey the intensity and dimensions of the destruction and sufferings that were inflicted on the civilian population of the two bombed cities.

Yet, it is the opening sequence that impressed me the most. It is filmed today, in some big city of Japan. Young Japanese folks in the teens or twenties are asked 'what historical event happened on August 6, 1945'. None of them knows the answer! Such films as 'White light, Black Rain' can help however bring down completely the walls of silence that still exist.

We are now roughly 80 years removed from WWII and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Very very few people are alive today that were alive back then, and even fewer still that had anything to do with WWII. I know the rationalization is that the U. S. had to do something to end the war, but it's just that: a rationalization.

"White Light/Black Rain" is a documentary with interviews and footage of survivors of the bombings that occurred on August 6th and 9th, 1945 (Hiroshima & Nagasaki). The "white light" was the intense light from the detonation of the bomb. The "black rain" was the radioactive wet ash that rained down afterwards.

There are also interviews of some of the American scientists and soldiers who were involved with the bombing-- each one doing his duty. Still, it's one of those things that after you've done it you ask, "What have we done?"

Incredibly graphic and confronting, but it should be, effectively driving home how horrifying these nuclear attacks were, and the enormous impact they had not just in 1945, but also in the ensuing decades.

It was a good choice to focus on the survivors. I feel like often in documentaries about tragedies, the survivor's stories aren't focused on as much, but here, I'd say at least 75% of the documentary is devoted to their experiences. Their stories are horrifying and have a great impact.

Living in a western country, there definitely seems to be more media and documentaries about other historical tragedies over this one (or these two, more accurately). Sometimes, you need a blunt, graphic, but respectful documentary like this to make a knowledge of the statistics of those who died more than just a number.

White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (2007)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Haunting, chilling and sad documentary taking a look at the Atomic Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of WWII. The documentary from director Steven Okazaki speaks with survivors of the events as well as Americans involved in the dropping of the bombs. What caught me off guard about this documentary is that it doesn't try to place blame, question the events or really doing any type of second guessing. I think it's clear that the message is that nothing like this should ever happen again but I give the director credit for not trying to change history and instead use it to show what actually happened and to hopefully prevent anything like it from happening again. I'm really not sure who to recommend this to because even though it's very good the subject matter is just rather painful to watch and especially during the stories being told by the survivors. Hearing stories of children being blown to pieces only to unfortunately survive and realize that everyone they know is dead was heartbreaking. Even worse is seeing some of the pain that the people were in because the blast was so strong that it melted many people on contact while others had their eyes blown out and some were pretty much burned to the bone. We get to see many photos and videos taken the day after the bomb and it's just shocking to see the aftermath. Even more shocking is seeing how much damage the bombs did to people's bodies and it's just amazing that so many children were burned over 100% of their body and yet were able to survive. The documentary really does pay justice to those brave enough to survive this entire ordeal and it's just amazing to see. The film also talks with some Americans involved and get their thoughts on the matter. This certainly isn't an easy film to watch but I think it's message is right there on full display.