Hiroshima

Rating:
Summary: Super- Truly Justifies Trumans thoughts and it saved lives.
Review: Itwas truly mesmerizing. I accidentally tuned it in and watched it to the end. What was coincidental was a call from Col.Olevi on the same night (co pilot on Nagasaki run) who is finally getting his book out.

Rating:
Summary: One of the very best docudramas I've seen
Review: Remarkable "made-for-cable" docudrama, easily one of the highest-quality productions I have seen in a "TV movie." Fascinating if you care about turning points of modern history (which tend to affect us all, care or not). The story begins April 12, 1945 (one of those Infamous Dates in the US, like December 7, 1941 and November 22, 1963, and more recently, of course, September 11, 2001) and continues beyond Truman's "Rain of Ruin" speech in August, heard live around the world, declaring in essence that the Second World War would soon end and that the era of nuclear terrors had begun.

At the time, that first point made a much deeper impression than the second on the 12 million people in US armed services who were expecting a long and bloody invasion of Japan. After years of a war not of their country's choosing, they had thought that the worst remained ahead. It was also a war with a history of atrocities committed in the name of Japan against civilians and military prisoners in several Pacific-Asian countries. The peoples of those countries remember (some of them have told me first-hand) even if others prefer not to learn. Goldstein, in the photographic history _Rain of Ruin_ (ISBN 1574880330), which this film partly parallels, argues that selective awareness of the many horrors in the Pacific war is a factor impeding perspective today. Another factor is modern "Japanese history books [with] very little about World War II, its origins and progress ... One gains the impression that modern Japanese history begins with the atomic bomb ... leaving conveniently vague the chain of events" before it.

Truman spoke August 6 (midmorning in the Americas, afternoon and evening in continental Eurasia, and midnight August 6-7 in Japan). A great many people worldwide were awake and had access to radios. One of them was my father, a GI in France, having a glass of wine in the restaurant on the Eiffel Tower. To the serving US soldiers, Truman's words were profound; it was as if their futures had been handed back to them. "We then had several more glasses of wine."

This film stresses intrigues and negotiations in the US and Japanese governments near the end of the war. A few scenes echo the spate of Manhattan-Project documentary in the 1980s that commenced with the great film _The Day After Trinity_ and extended to TV movies, mini-series, and books. It's rich in complexities and details (some of them recently available) absent from lesser documentaries and from popular treatments like Hersey's or Hachiya's books. Central is the struggle of clear-headed Japanese civil and court officials, and some in the military, who were ready to accept peace terms even before the atomic bombings, but feared a seizure of power by military leaders (who had a strong hand in the government anyway, by the constitution at that time). The production is a collage of re-enactment, wartime footage, and recent interviews with people bearing witness, from Hiroshima residents to Clark Clifford to Edward Teller. It is tied together with narration, sometimes poignant, in subtitles.

There was little US involvement in this film. It came from parallel production teams in Canada and Japan (reminiscent of _Tora, Tora, Tora,_ which had a US rather than Canadian team, but also for which the 1995 film could possibly be seen as a very apt sequel.) As with TTT (despite the break with Kurusawa in that film and the subsequent omission of most of his footage) the Japanese unit is superb, with sensitive, nuanced portrayals of key figures such as Kido (Kei Sato), War Minister Gen. Korechika Anami (Kohji Takahashi), and the new Prime Minister ex-Adm. Bn. Kantaro Suzuki (Tatsuo Matsumura). (For some reason, even such a comprehensive source as the IMDB currently omits most of the Japanese cast.) They got a good ringer for the young emperor too. But also, the Canadian team succeeded in something notoriously hard: a faithful portrayal of Truman complete with mannerisms and rough edges (Kenneth Welsh). He and they deserve enormous applause, for this has scarcely ever been achieved (it is the film equivalent of getting a good blue fire in fireworks). Truman, the new, politically chosen vice president to FDR, left out of executive activity until FDR's sudden death, was a statesman conscious of his responsibilities before history, but he also had a crude streak, illustrated in his offhand dismissal of Stalin (who was not even Russian) as a "little Russian twerp."

At one point in the film Marquis Kido (one of the pivotal figures) asks Prince Konoye to go to Russia to persuade Stalin to mediate with the Americans. Kido pushes his servants from the room, prompting Konoye's observation "it's rather bourgeois to abuse one's servants, Kido!" Kido complains "your servants probably aren't someone else's spies."

If you've seen _Tora, Tora, Tora_, you remember the slow building of tension while Wesley Addy, as the Navy crypto officer, makes the rounds of Washington at night delivering intercepts of impending trouble, chauffeured by his wife, who presses him with limited success for hints of what's up (the "look, step on it, dear" scene). Addy reappears in this 1995 film as Secretary of War Stimson, especially in a crucial argument with Groves, vetoing Kyoto as a nuclear target.

Naval aviator Capt. Mitsuo Fuchida, the Japanese military hero who managed to be on the scene at both Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima, is among those who have remarked that Japan tried to develop atomic bombs and would certainly have used them if successful. Goldstein points out "it is possible to pity the victims of the atomic bombs without attempting to rewrite history" to suit one's preferences. As far as I can tell, this 1995 film is faithful to that goal.

Rating:
Summary: The Very Best Docudrama Ever Done On This Subject
Review: Simply, Hiroshima stands out as the very best film history, in docudrama form, that has ever been done about that fateful day. I give it 5 stars, and recommend classroom use. When I first viewed it off satellite, I knew I had to own it.

Rating:
Summary: The Very Best Docudrama Ever Done On This Subject
Review: Simply, Hiroshima stands out as the very best film history, in docudrama form, that has ever been done about that fateful day. I give it 5 stars, and recommend classroom use. When I first viewed it off satellite, I knew I had to own it.

Rating:
Summary: A Tragic Event - Ban 'The Bomb'
Review: The acting and production of this feature are all fine, but overall it presents a very kind image of Truman that I don't find supported in my knowledge of him and his presidency. It is often (wrongly) said that the atomic bombs felled on Japanese *civilians* saved tens of thousands of American *soldiers'* lives. But that's a false way to frame the true nature of why hydrogen and plutonium bombs were used.

Truman and Byrnes (his hard-liner sec. of state) lamented Germany's surrender before the bomb was ready, because then they could not justify its use on a defeated enemy. THAT is why Japan would be their victims; and there, too, they avoided negotiating peace and an end to war. THAT prolongation is what *cost* US and Japanese lives.

The atomic bombings served PRIMARILY as displays of military power by the US government to its counterparts of the USSR. The bombing date was moved-up on schedule because Truman feared and wanted to pre-empt the Red Army's move from victory in Manchurian (China, where the Japanese had occupied for a decade) to the islands.

Harry Truman is romanticized as a courageous, conflicted leader who ultimately made a tough decision in the best interest of his people and the world. That idea brings to mind one entry in his journal: 'May have Jap Emperor at Potsdam'... 'Will certainly have them when Manhattan appears over their homeland' (paraphrased). "Manhattan" being of course, the Manhattan Project - the development of nuclear explosives. Truman kept saying that "unconditional surrender" was the only acceptable terms, though the enemy's contention was on having Hirohito stay in power as the icon of Japan's government, culture, and history. But, *after* the bombing had demonstrated the muscle the US government could flex and Japan relented on that point, "unconditional!" went to 'whatever, our point was made', and things beyond that were of far less concern.

We all know where the world went from there: The USSR & The USA competitively racing to build thousands of bombs, just a handful of which could destroy all life on Earth; China, England, France, Israel, have all since joined the insanity. Bitter rivals, India and Pakistan now have the same terrible potential for annihilation of one another, and pollution of our backyards. And Iran and North Korea want to develop their share, because they can plausibly claim a threat from Israel and/or the USA. (And Iraq, apparently, was not on such course of production.)

The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were crimes against humanity, bigger than 'war crimes'. WE, common people of the world, must realize that nuclear weapons cannot merely "fall" into the wrong hands of people who would MIS-use them; rather, ANYONE who has them is the wrong people who would USE them, for they threaten OUR WORLD entire.

And it will be up to us common people of the world to stop these mad, reckless, ambitious vultures who run our world and plan our demise.

Rating:
Summary: Documentary as history
Review: This DVD release is entirely welcomed. HIROSHIMA was a gripping docu-drama when it was aired on Showtime Networks a few years ago. The producers and writers obviously spent a great deal of time researching the topic, and the effect of seeing history unfold is awing. The portrayals are quite believable, and, each time I watch it, I find myself--once again--tensely awaiting the flight of the Enola Gay....

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Documentary
Review: This is a documentary that feels like a mainstream movie drama. Its attention to detail and realistic portrayal of the gut-wrenching decision-making process of President Truman was truly remarkable. The actual war footage is seamlessly combined with superbly acted portions so that you feel like you are really there. I recommend this video for everyone, whether or not you are a history buff. It inspired me to purchase a book to read about this war in more detail.

Rating:
Summary: History comes alive! The true story of the atomic bomb.
Review: This is a magnificent film. It carefully documents the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan from both perspectives: that of the United States, and that of Japan. The film makes no moral judgments: it simply brings out the dilemmas of both sides. President Truman wanted to end the war with a minimum of casualties, but with the Japanese defeated. The Japanese, whose government was controlled by fanatical militarists, were unable to reach a consensus that surrender was inevitable and that the war was lost. They dithered and continued their infighting.

Meanwhile American and Japanese war casualties continue. Truman receives a sobering briefing about the horrific casualties anticipated to occur from the invasion of Japan, as the plans for this move forward. As Prime Minister Churchill said to President Roosevelt: how will you ever explain to the American people that the invasion could have been avoided by the use of this weapon, and that you could have saved the lives of thousands of their sons? Truman had no answer, and events proceeded inexorably towards the use of the weapon in order to end the war.

This is hard-hitting, realistic, and deeply moving history, sympathetically presented without much in the way of political axe-grinding. Both sides are shown with dignity. World War Two is shown for what it was: a catastrophe that cost millions of lives and untold destruction. The decision to use the atom bomb is also shown for what it was, as Truman put it: "a decision that King Solomon himself would have had trouble making."

Ultimately the film makes no ultimate judgment about the wisdom of America's decision to use the bomb. The viewer is left to decide.

Despite its weighty topic, this film is highly entertaining and is a pleasure to watch, although its tone is deadly serious. You will likely watch this one more than once.

Rating:
Summary: History comes alive! The true story of the atomic bomb.
Review: This is a magnificent film. It carefully documents the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan from both perspectives: that of the United States, and that of Japan. The film makes no moral judgments: it simply brings out the dilemmas of both sides. President Truman wanted to end the war with a minimum of casualties, but with the Japanese defeated. The Japanese, whose government was controlled by fanatical militarists, were unable to reach a consensus that surrender was inevitable and that the war was lost. They dithered and continued their infighting.

Meanwhile American and Japanese war casualties continue. Truman receives a sobering briefing about the horrific casualties anticipated to occur from the invasion of Japan, as the plans for this move forward. As Prime Minister Churchill said to President Roosevelt: how will you ever explain to the American people that the invasion could have been avoided by the use of this weapon, and that you could have saved the lives of thousands of their sons? Truman had no answer, and events proceeded inexorably towards the use of the weapon in order to end the war.

This is hard-hitting, realistic, and deeply moving history, sympathetically presented without much in the way of political axe-grinding. Both sides are shown with dignity. World War Two is shown for what it was: a catastrophe that cost millions of lives and untold destruction. The decision to use the atom bomb is also shown for what it was, as Truman put it: "a decision that King Solomon himself would have had trouble making."

Ultimately the film makes no ultimate judgment about the wisdom of America's decision to use the bomb. The viewer is left to decide.

Despite its weighty topic, this film is highly entertaining and is a pleasure to watch, although its tone is deadly serious. You will likely watch this one more than once.

Rating:
Summary: A common humanity
Review: This movie gives a sense of the common humanity of both sides, in at least two ways.

First, the movie draws parallels between the make-up of both governments near the end of the war, beginning with U.S. President Truman and Japanese Prime Minister Suzuki. The two men took office within 5 days of each other, and had their first cabinet meetings at nearly the same time. Both meetings are in the film. You can see each man adjusting to the reins of power as he meets with the military leaders of his country. At his meeting, Suzuki chooses in a calculated way to present himself as a fierce warrior ready to die in battle, while Truman makes no such speech, yet you get the sense that the President, too, perhaps because of his lack of experience, is aware that he needs to communicate himself as a strong leader in order to earn the respect of the officers and civilians in his cabinet. Truman had the military men under his unquestioned command, though, which cannot be said for Suzuki; and Truman was the highest authority in the U.S., while in Japan that title lay, technically at least, with Emperor Hirohito. Yet very quietly, the movie draws Suzuki and Truman together as two men in a common situation, determined in their own ways to see an end to the war. The parallel is not trumpeted in an obvious manner; I did not see it myself until revisiting the movie after several years; but this is a subtle and complex film with many such finely drawn portraits.

Beyond Truman and Suzuki, we get a good sense of the general disagreements within both governments, usually but not always between the military and civilian men. In Japan, of course, the tension between the two groups became an outright struggle, unlike the more nuanced situation in the U.S., where a civilian, Secretary of State Byrnes, comes off as a hard-liner, and where scientists contribute to the civilian roles (prominently, but not completely, in opposition to the hard-liners). At one point Colonel Groves, the head of the Manhattan Project, confronts Secretary of War Stimson with the same kind of martial anger that the military leaders of Japan display so memorably throughout the film. The latter speeches feel authentic, to this particular American, who knows nothing personally of Japan; the dialogue and general portrayal of Colonel Groves can feel ham-fisted and over the top. I can't say whether the portrayals of Byrnes and Groves are historically accurate, but whatever the case, the abundance of tension makes for very interesting drama to say the least; and the drama draws out one of the most tragic facts of the Hiroshima story: the presence in both these countries, near the end of World War II, of war-weariness.

Secretary Stimson's general disposition "not to outdo Herr Hitler in committing atrocities against noncombatants", his willingness to protect the heart of Japanese culture from atomic destruction, and his old age and frailty all mirror Suzuki's old age and the softer line of all the Japanese civilian leaders toward the war.

None of these similarities are allowed to obscure the contrasts between the two countries, in both politics and culture, which are laid out in wonderful complexity -- and, as far as this amateur historian can tell, with authenticity. The movie is not against the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki but, perhaps because its Canadian origins help provide some neutrality, it does not wrap Americans in protective clothing, either: they come off as human beings with both warts and strengths.

The second way in which the movie draws a common humanity is by including snippets of interviews with real-life soldiers and civilians from both sides. Dramatically these interruptions feel awkward, and they introduce the feeling of a documentary into what is essentially a docudrama. I think the movie pulls it off well enough, but there is no good way to include these interviews. If you're patient, they add to your appreciation of the story; but keep in mind that the movie is essentially not about ordinary people but rather their leaders.

Bravo to the producers for using actors and film-makers from both sides. I have always loved the Japanese sections of the film, and perhaps it means something that years after first watching it, the chief thing I remembered about it was the power of the Japanese language and the sympathetic humanity of the Japanese roles -- perhaps especially the warriors. The portrayal of Army Minister Anami is especially unforgettable.