Atomic Bomb Cinema: The Apocalyptic Imagination on Film

Rating:
Summary: Entwined in Its Own Verbiage
Review: Jerome Shipiro has quite an idea. And, as an American living and teaching in Japan, he has a unique perspective. He has managed to write what is, for the most part, a credible book on the phenomenon of atom bomb cinema, tying it to the tradition of apocalyptic literature rather than the "red scare" category that other film critics have used to describe the genre.

His problems begin when he tries to categorize all a-bomb films in the apocalyptic category, in the process omitting those films which do not sport an obvious a-bomb connection, such as "The Thing From Another World and The Trollenberg Terror.(Although both films sport radioactive monsters and are set in desolate areas.) Worst of all, while he rightly summarizes Gojira (Godzilla), he pays amazingly short shrift to director Honda's other, more closely linked film, The H-Men.

Other cases occur where the author defends a film he has chosen for his category against critics who see it in another category, usually as a "red scare" film. An excellent example is "Them!" Every point used by the author to prove it is not a red scare film can also be used to support the thesis that it is a red scare film. I would think Shapiro loses because he ignores the FBI-Air Force Intelligence connection around which the film revolves. It is a close argument and I give Shapiro kudos for an entertaining and illuminating chapter.

However, what does this book in at the end is its needlessly dense writing style, a style that makes each chapter seem as long as the book itself. Oh, the academic rag -- it's done in more good intentions than any other style of bad writing. Just imagine the fun if David Skal or Bill Warren had written this book. And there's the rub.

While this is no means a bad book for its price, it is a shame that many of its arguments are done in by its own language. I would recommend this for film fanatics only.

Rating:
Summary: A-bomb film book almost a bomb
Review: The devastation of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the ensuing Cold War and amassing of weapons of mass destruction, have left a deep impression on our collective psyches. Our horror and fear of a nuclear holocaust surfaces in all parts of our culture, most overtly in film. Author Jerome F. Shapiro, an American film professor in Japan, has studied hundreds of movies that span all genres but feature subtle or prevalent bomb and/or apocalyptic imagery, grouping them under his label "atomic bomb cinema" or "bomb films," for short.

His discussion follows a chronology, starting with pre-1945 sci-fi films, including Georges Melies's prototypical Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip To The Moon) (1902) and Fritz Lang's masterpiece Metropolis (1927). He then discusses the great, apocalyptic movies that came after the war, like Five, War of the Worlds, and The World, The Flesh, and The Devil. The next chapters feature everything from satire (Dr. Strangelove, Naked Gun 2 ½), cheesy radioactive monster movies (Them, Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman, The Amazing Colossal Man, Godzilla movies, etc.), horror (Night of the Living Dead), to more modern cult, sci-fi, and action titles (Mad Max, Alien, Terminator, James Bond movies, Total Recall, Hunt for Red October).

Shapiro seems to have an equal appreciation for all the bomb films he discourses upon, not only withholding judgment on exceptionally poor movies, but also writing about stinkers like Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Waterworld, and even Blast From The Past with the same reverence and fluffy academia as The Time Machine or Metropolis.

But his passion doesn't mask the major problems with this book, which is in serious need of an editor. Shapiro's style is highly academic without making any points. He analyzes each film in relation to Judeo-Christian traditions, Freudian and Jungian psychologies, mythology, sociology, and so on, but without any central theme or hypothesis other than "here's the connection between this movie and the bomb." You get the feeling that if a character in "Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot!" mentioned the word "bomb," Shapiro would be there to explain the Oedipal relationship between Sylvester Stallone and Estelle Geddy ageism in society, and the phallic shapes of guns.

Also, his plot summaries are unnecessarily detailed and his analyses are very disjointed, resulting in him repeating himself within and over chapters. His structure is also confusing, as he analyzes groups of four or five movies at once. I think it would've made more sense (considering his predilection towards long film summaries) to structure the book like a film guide, allowing a short chapter for each film title. Instead, Shapiro's chapters are jumbled messes, made murkier by not having a clear and stated point.

While I'm fascinated with bomb movies, Atomic Bomb Cinema doesn't offer much insight into how exactly American and Japanese films differ (one of its possible themes, I think), and why humanity can't envision a complete end to the world, but always assumes a hopeful life-will-go-on attitude toward global annihilation. I don't think Shapiro's book is a total bomb, but it is a dud.

PS-Where's the Planet of the Apes?