‘Felt disgust for the film’

• Anoma van der Veere

  Japan correspondent

The Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer can now be seen in cinemas in Japan, about three quarters of a year after the film hit full houses in the rest of the world. The biographical film adaptation of the father of the nuclear bomb is a sensitive issue in the country because of the more than 200,000 victims of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. At the end of the Second World War, America took the first and nuclear weapons once.

The fact that the Japanese premiere took so long is due to hesitation on the part of the film distributor Bitters End. He decided to take the plunge in December and release the film. “After much discussion and deliberation, because the subject of the film is of great importance and special significance to Japanese people,” a press release said.

The company says success at the Oscars also plays a role. Oppenheimer ultimately won seven prizes, including for the camera work of the Dutchman Hoyte van Hoytema.

These viewers in Hiroshima react divided:

They watched the film Oppenheimer in Hiroshima: ‘Difficult to see’

It often happens that Japanese film distributors wait to release major Hollywood productions if a film has a good chance of winning prestigious awards. This can have a positive effect on visitor numbers. In case of Oppenheimer it took longer than average, partly due to the original publication date last summer. It fell a few weeks before the national days of remembrance for nuclear bomb victims in August.

In addition, according to critics, the film is problematic because of the omission of the victims from the story. “To be honest, I felt a kind of disgust with the film,” 84-year-old Kochi Kawano told journalists after the premiere in Nagasaki. He barely survived the atomic bombing of his hometown 79 years ago.

“The story is mainly about the joy of the Americans as a victor, but nothing about the tragedy that took place in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” The film contains only one scene with radio messages mentioning the number of victims. “I would like viewers to see that we are still suffering the consequences.”

There is a feeling of powerlessness in Japan with regard to the international nuclear weapons discussion. Politicians often mention the 1945 attacks to emphasize the tragedy of potential nuclear war, but on the world stage Japan plays a small role. In May last year, at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, the Japanese Prime Minister failed to convince allies to reduce their nuclear arsenal.

Like salt in the wound, jokes about the film went viral on the internet. Barbie and Oppenheimer premiered on July 21 last year. Enthusiastic fans then shared images online depicting the leading actors of the two blockbusters under the hashtag Barbenheimer .

That initial flurry of messages already caused discomfort in Japan, but the real fuss came over a poster made by a fan: Barbie sitting on J. Robert Oppenheimer’s shoulder, with a nuclear explosion in the background.

“It’s going to be a summer to remember,” Barbie’s official X account posted underneath the poster. A flood of comments followed on social media. Japanese users immediately drew the comparison with jokes about the attacks on September 11, 2001 and the Holocaust.

The Japanese branch of Warner Bros, the company behind the Barbie movie, quickly posted an apology online, lashing out at the parent company in the US. Voice actress Mitsuki Takahata, the voice of Barbie in the Japanese version, said on Instagram that she was deeply disappointed and was considering quitting promotion of the film. Ultimately, Japanese people decided in large numbers to stay away from Barbie. While the film broke several records in the US and Europe, it ranked eighth in its opening weekend in Japan.

Oppenheimer appears to be facing a similar fate. While the film has grossed $950 million worldwide, there were only a few lines at the first screenings in Tokyo this morning. Tickets for upcoming performances are easy to get. Compared to other major American films, ticket sales appear to be disappointing, despite the great success outside Japan.