Eight months after the rest of the world, Japanese spectators can discover in theaters since Friday March 29 the multi-awarded film "Oppenheimer", which addresses a particularly sensitive subject in Japan through a portrait of the creator of the atomic bomb.
Christopher Nolan's feature film was released in many countries last summer, at the same time as another blockbuster, Greta Gerwig's joyful comedy "Barbie", sparking countless memes on the Internet on this occasion.
Images combining the two films shocked public opinion in Japan, the only country to have been struck by atomic weapons in August 1945 during the Second World War.
No official reason had been given for the delayed release of "Oppenheimer" in Japan, fueling speculation that the film was too sensitive to be shown there.
“Inconceivable” that the film will not be released in Japan
Friday, in front of a large cinema in Tokyo, only a small poster indicated the presence of this blockbuster with a budget of 100 million dollars, which has already garnered more than 960 million dollars in revenue worldwide, according to the specialist site BoxOfficeMojo .
"It would have been inconceivable that a film on the development [of the atomic bomb, Editor's note] would not be released in Japan," said Tatsuhisa Yue, 65, interviewed by AFP at the end of a screening.
More than 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and 74,000 in Nagasaki by the two American atomic bombs dropped on these cities. A few days later, on August 15, 1945, Japan accepted its unconditional surrender.
Also read: Hiroshima: 77 years after the atomic bomb, the challenge of memory for the last survivors
“I think the distributors avoided releasing it in the summer because everyone in Japan remembers (the bombings) of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at that time,” added Tatsuhisa Yue, praising a film “made in a very sincere way” .
“Even as a Japanese, I found him to be much more objective than I expected,” noted another spectator, Fuyuki Ike, 48.
“Lack of images” of victims
The film, which won the Oscar for best film as well as six other statuettes, retraces in three hours the key moments in the life of Robert Oppenheimer, the American physicist who brought the planet into the nuclear age before seeing himself Assailed by doubt in the face of his creation which had become an all-powerful tool.
In Hiroshima, the feature film was awaited with some trepidation. “Is this really a film that locals (here) can stand to watch?” asked Kyoko Heya, the president of the city's International Film Festival, after the Oscar triumph of “Oppenheimer.” earlier this month.
Kyoko Heya considered it "very America-centric", admitting to having initially been "terrified" at the idea of showing it in Hiroshima.
“I now hope that many people will watch the film, because I would be happy to see Hiroshima, Nagasaki and atomic weapons become topics of discussion thanks to this film,” she added.
“There could have been many more descriptions and representations of the horror of atomic weapons,” criticized Takashi Hiraoka, 96-year-old bomb survivor and former mayor of Hiroshima, during a special screening in the city organized earlier this month.
"Oppenheimer" was also previewed in Nagasaki, where Masao Tomonaga, 80, another "hibakusha" (bomb survivor), said he was impressed by the film.
"I had thought that the absence of images of survivors of the atomic bomb was a weakness," said Masao Tomonaga, who was two years old at the time of the bombing, and who later became a researcher studying the leukemia caused by radiation.
"But in fact, Oppenheimer's statements in dozens of scenes show the shock he felt at the reality of the atomic bombing. That was enough for me."
With AFP
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