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Oppenheimer reopens debate on the A-bomb, but not yet in Japan
The biopic could lead to a more useful discussion about the war in Japan, assuming the movie is ever released in the country.
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In the United States, World War II drama Oppenheimer has reopened the debate on the atomic bomb and whether it was a war crime.
PHOTO: UIP
Gearoid Reidy
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What can we learn from a country’s choice of when – or whether – to screen World War II drama Oppenheimer?
Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic was released in the United States just after the anniversary of the Trinity test, the culmination of the Manhattan Project on July 16, 1945, that paved the way for the post-war Pax Americana. In South Korea, it will hit screens on National Liberation Day, which marks Tokyo’s Aug 15 surrender in World War II – something the bomb is credited with. And in Japan itself, which next month will see 78 years since Little Boy and Fat Man were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, the film is not scheduled for release at all yet.
