“Oppenheimer” finally premiered Friday in the nation still marked by the scars of nuclear devastation 79 years earlier — the very bombs brought to existence through the efforts of the titular American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who helmed the Manhattan Project and is now dramatized in an Oscar-winning film. Not surprisingly, the movie’s reception among Japanese audiences ranged from poignant reflection to critical disquiet.
It was Toshiyuki Mimaki, a nuclear attack survivor of Hiroshima at age 3, who voiced his long-held captivation by Oppenheimer’s story. “What were the Japanese thinking, carrying out the attack on Pearl Harbor, starting a war they could never hope to win,” he pondered with evident sorrow, expressing his sentiments in a conversation with The Associated Press.
Mimaki, now leading the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organization, attended a preview showing of “Oppenheimer”. His anticipation throughout the film was tinged with a sense of waiting, a buildup to the inevitable depiction of Hiroshima’s bombing, a scene that ultimately never came. The film deliberately bypasses the on-ground horror of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, which claimed the lives of some 100,000 people immediately, reducing them to ashes, and snuffed out thousands more in the ensuing days, the majority of whom were civilians.
Instead of graphic wartime destruction, “Oppenheimer” turns inward to explore the personal and ethical battles that raged within the mind of Oppenheimer himself. With this focus, the film paints a more personal portrait of the physicist grappling with the weight of his creation.
Anticipation mixed with anxiety preceded the Japanese release of the film, more than eight months after its U.S. debut, hinting at the sensitive nature surrounding the topic. During a film preview in the southwestern city, the critical remarks of Takashi Hiraoka, former mayor of Hiroshima, echoed throughout media reports. He argued that the terror unleashed by nuclear weaponry was not sufficiently captured, suggesting the film’s narrative leaned toward justifying the bomb’s use to save American lives.
Despite such critiques, some Japanese moviegoers emerged with positive impressions. One individual, stepping out a Tokyo theater, lauded the film as remarkable, keenly noting the topic’s importance and emotional volatility for Japanese viewers. Yet another spectator was moved by the portrayal of Oppenheimer’s personal turmoil, though preferring anonymity when recounting this to an Associated Press correspondent.
Interestingly, there was a moment of controversy when Warner Bros. Japan was met with backlash over an ill-conceived promotional fusion called “Barbenheimer,” an attempt to blend the gravitas of Oppenheimer with the lighthearted image of Barbie. Apologies followed as some distasteful memes featured atomic imagery alongside the iconic doll.
Amid varying responses, Kazuhiro Maeshima, a professor at Sophia University with expertise in U.S. politics, labeled the film as an expression of “an American conscience.” He suggested that those anticipating a blatant anti-war statement might find themselves underwhelmed, but the film represents a shift in American mentality that would have been unlikely in earlier decades.
Calls for a Japanese cinematic counterpoint to “Oppenheimer” have emerged. Acclaimed director Takashi Yamazaki, whose “Godzilla Minus One” made a potent statement on nuclear catastrophe, expressed interest in crafting such a film during an online discourse with “Oppenheimer” director Christopher Nolan, who received the concept with enthusiasm.
The discussion extended beyond cinema, into the broader implications of war and the ethical use of nuclear weapons. Lawyer Hiroyuki Shinju underscored the need to confront these issues, acknowledging both Japan’s and Germany’s war crimes during the same era. In his commentary published by the Tokyo Bar Association, Shinju emphasized the film’s potential relevance as a touchstone for global and Japanese introspection on nuclear armament and warfare.
