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Black Rain

Black Rain

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Mariposa, et al, is a MORON!
Review: Mariposa, you are a moron, plain and simple. You are not a "patriot", but a fascist pig. The US dropped atomic bombs on two civilian targets, during rush hour in Hiroshima's case, no where near a military target (but in the center of the city) and hundreds of thousands (contemplate this for a moment, if you can) of lives were lost--murder of genocidal proportions. Hundreds of thousands (again, can you imagine a number that high, you fascist?) of innocent lives were ruined forever... left to die painful deaths from radiation sickness. The Imperial Japanese Army, etc., committed countless atrocities and that is not to be deined--however, to take the easy way out, as Mariposa and her ilk have since 1945, and avoid thinking about the REALITY of what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, or to conflate the crimes of one military machine with another ("they started the war" so "we" were "justified" in "ending it" by nuclear genocide) is simply unacceptable. Mariposa and other Floridian inbreds, why don't you work on fixing your electoral system so we don't have another right wing coup d'etat this November, instead of writing idiotic "reviews" of literature or film? You and your kind are such wonderful "patriots", as you put it--why don't you volunteer and head to Iraq to fight Bush's OIL WAR? You moron! Wake up, America, and take a look at the human cost of EMPIRE! (before it is too late...)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Historically accurate account of Hiroshima
Review: The film takes its name from the rain that fell immediately after the atomic explosion at Hiroshima in August, 1945, at the end of WWII, that was black "like ink". It looks at the effects of the atomic bomb.

The movie covers the explosion, and we are initially shown a graphic recreation of what happened, with many specific details (such as the shadow left on the clock) that add to the realism.

As Yasuko and her Uncle and Aunt make their way acrosss the centre of town to find refuge in the Uncle's factory we are exposed to rampant scenes of the bomb victims (who look like they're zombies out of old b-movies) walking the streets.

The main of the movie deals with the effects of radiation sickness on the community where our family live. This includes the social effects. Yasuko, a young woman, is the victim of "false rumours" about her health and this causes issues over her ultimate goal, to find a good husband.

Yasuko, eventually finds her partner in the towns token 'crazy' man who also has war related 'issues', only with the sound of engines that remind him of the sound of American tanks. The two find solice with each other and although it is like Yasuko is settling for crazy man for want of someone better she does in fact fall in love with him for no other reason than his beauty of spirit.

Romance, however takes second place to the 'left-wing' view of the director and his ultimate message that "an unjust peace is better than war", told to us by the extremely admirable character in the Uncle, Shizuma.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A moving tragedy about a young girl's life affected by war.
Review: This film is the first one that I know of that deals with other lesser known aspects of the atomic explosion of Hiroshima. The storey is about a young Japanese girl who was on the outskirts of the city when it was destroyed by an atomic bomb.She witnesses the horror and devastation as she and her family try to reach there Father's factory that is on the other side of town.She takes a boat ride across the bay when it starts raining black ash.That is just the begining of the film and the rest chronicles her life as she struggles to find a husband while under the suspicion that she was contaminated by the blast. When I think of the tragedy of Hiroshima I've always thought of its victims as being instantly vaporized at the moment of explosion.What this film tries to show is that for some victims there pain and suffering would last an entire lifetime. This film is a sublime masterpiece.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Don't judge what you haven't seen
Review: This goes to "Margo Lopez" and "Jenni Garcia Mariposa", who are both probably the same person trying to pose as two Latin-American bimbos from different locales. Neither one (if they are really two) have actually seen the film, and are judging a book by its cover. "Mariposa" voiced the same tune for the book "Black Rain (Japan's Modern Writers S.)" by Masuji Ibuse (click on "her" name for more info). In total, that's 3 "reviews" from two usernames. It's as if that's all they are here for. Neither one wrote anything else since.

The film NEVER blamed the Americans even though they dropped the atomic bomb. In fact, the Japanese implied self-blame for what had happened - their government perpetrated the war, and the civilians suffered because of it. But you wouldn't know that unless you have seen the film.

The characters could have been anyone of us: the uncle who can't work as hard as he used to because he is ill, the niece who has trouble finding a suitable partner because of exaggerated rumors, the aunt tries to hold her family together, the war veteran whose experiences of war keeps haunting him and drive him crazy, and the superfical manner in which the people approach a national tragedy. You can find a lot of similar situations in your own country's history, unless you're igonorant of it.

Imamura's masterpiece deserves a perfect 10 from me. The fact that it can get a coward to pose as two "chicks" is a testament to the power of the film (subject matter). That and "any publicity is good publicity".

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A prayer for peace and tolerance
Review: This is a wonderful black and white film by one of Japan's foremost Directors, Shohei Imamura. The film also features the outstanding music of Japan's foremost modern composer, Toru Takemitsu. He also provided the score for Hiroshi Teshigahara's classic, "Woman In the Dunes".

"Black Rain" explores a difficult subject, the bombing of Hiroshima, but does it not by assigning blame for the bombing. Rather Imamura depicts the intollerance of humanity that leads to all wars and their equally terrible aftermath. The characters in the film, all very well acted, are dealing with radiation illness and their positions as new social outcasts in postwar Japan. Perhaps one of the most moving scenes is that of the three Buddhist prayers or "sutras" for Hiroshima's dead chanted by a layman in the absence of the clergy. Indeed the film is one long prayer for peace and tolerance.

The quality of this DVD is acceptable but it seems a shame that Fox Lorber does not seem inclined, with this or many other of their DVDs, to provide any bonus materials.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It was ver y sad.
Review: This story can tell to the people who don't know about the war. So that they can understand sadness of nucler weapon though the family in this movie.Moreover this movie can teach people not to have war.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Black Rain
Review: We all seem to forget that had Japan not bombed our heros at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, we would not have dropped the bomb. The director (and before that the Author) seem to be trying to rewrite history by playing on the sympathy of the viewers which is just wrong given the facts of the event. The "victims" portrayed in the film are recieving their just desserts for supporting an evil government. I hope any American who is subjected to this pack of lies remebers our fallen heros.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Anti American Lies
Review: We all seem to forget that had Japan not bombed our heros at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, we would not have dropped the bomb. The director (and before that the Author) seem to be trying to rewrite history by playing on the sympathy of the viewers which is just wrong given the facts of the event. The "victims" portrayed in the film are recieving their just desserts for supporting an evil government. I hope any American who is subjected to this pack of lies remebers our fallen heros.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Japan
Review: Well , k'zou het toch alleen maar in het Nederlands best kunnen duidelijk maken wat ik eigenlijk heb te vertellen. Welzo of ziehier : Ik vind het onnodig iemand te proceren of een verhaal te doen over Hiroshima/Nagasaki als hij de films of tenminste één ervan niet heeft gezien van Vlaanderend bezoekend IMAMURA: oud, maar zeker nier minder gewaardeerd.


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