<



White Light, Black Rain (DVD)

Right off, the viewer needs to be warned that many of the images in the film will be graphic and potentially upsetting. This actually starts within the first couple of minutes of the film. I have watched many documentaries and clips, and there is no doubt in my mind that this one is the most violent, gruesome and upsetting one of all.

That doesn't mean it's bad; it presents the truth and the truth can be very upsetting.

Archival footage is used, some of it that seems to have been cleaned up a little because the quality is very high.

The film opens with scenes of Japanese troops leaving for Manchuria. It then moves to Pearl Harbor. Then Truman says that the U.S. will destroy Japan's ability to make war. After that, there are scenes of the first A-bomb test and then a summary of the dropping of the two A-bombs.

The film notes that the U.S. suppressed films and photographs of the event for 25 years. Another interesting note is given; 75% of Japan's population was born after 1945.

They then show modern day Hiroshima. I think the scenes are fascinating because you get to see how crowded it is, how ultra-modern the stores appear to be, the various vending machines, and the clothing.

The film then moves on to talking with survivors. The first one is a girl who is the only survivor from a school of 620 students. After talking to some more survivors, they then show part of a U.S. anti-Japan propaganda film.

The film also covers the actual dropping of the bomb and interviews those involved with that.

It also brings up the fact that the survivors of the atomic bombs are often discriminated against, basically become outcasts in their own society. This is one thing that is very hard to understand; how a people can turn against others because they were severely injured and sometimes deformed by the effects of a bomb.

For those who don't know the history of the atomic bombs, and for those who want to learn why such things must never, ever again be used, this is required viewing.



Main Index
Japan main page
Japanese-American Internment Camps index page
Japan and World War II index page