[KineJapan] Oppenheimer in Japan

[Miyao, Daisuke]

Dear Rea, Roger, and all,

Thank you. Following the Oscar, I was interviewed by ABC of Australia regarding this issue – although most of my comments were not included in the broadcast version unfortunately, this video includes images Hiroshima after the bombing shot by Harry Mimura Akira, which I informed them about.  FYI.

Best,
Daisuke

Daisuke Miyao
Professor and Hajime Mori Chair in Japanese Language and Literature
Director of Film Studies
University of California, San Diego

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBtXF7m_aAU
[https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVP.8Lq222Kz2bDws2l3IhVNiwHgFo&pid=Api]<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBtXF7m_aAU>
Is Japan ready for Oppenheimer?<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBtXF7m_aAU>
Christopher Nolan's atomic bomb biopic Oppenheimer dominated the silver screen in 2023, earning more than a billion dollars at the box office and 7 Golden Globes. But the film won't open in Japan until March 29, amid controversy over its films marketing and storytelling, as Lachlan Bennett explains. ABC News provides around the clock coverage ...
www.youtube.com

________________________________
From: KineJapan <kinejapan-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Roger Macy via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
Sent: Monday, April 1, 2024 5:37 AM
To: Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu>
Cc: Roger Macy <macyroger at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Re: [KineJapan] Oppenheimer in Japan


Thanks, Rea, for the link.

Actually, I’m surprised Oppenheimer is doing so well at the Japanese box office.

It makes me recall stumbling, at the Kawakita Institute, upon British-authored promotion material in the immediate post-war for A Matter of Life and Death. I think both films have considerable, if very different merits. But a film that sends the bombers to heaven without mentioning the bombed – I can’t see it doing well in Tokyo in 1948 despite the glossy (for the time) material.

Yaguchi-san’s particular way of characterising Oppenheimer as one-sided would do better for the British film. Oppenheimer is, of course, one sided but more outward in declaring that and portraying, if not analysing, evolving war-time and post-war attitudes. Whether Truman actually said to Oppenheimer’s face that ‘You didn’t drop the bomb, I did.’ doesn’t worry me, it conveyed a truth. And, of course, the ‘Manhattan’ team would eagerly embrace a narrative that they had saved millions of lives.  Besides no mention of the Red Army and its preparations, what is not portrayed at all, is Truman’s motivation. But the film isn’t about Truman and it at least doesn’t spoil the ground for that to be questioned further.

So, in my view, any trigger warnings should have been on the line of saying that the film conveys attitudes towards an enemy in wartime and the way they started to evolve.

Roger


On Monday, 1 April 2024 at 11:15:30 BST, Rea Amit via KineJapan <kinejapan at mailman.yale.edu> wrote:



Hello everyone,


Here is a NYT piece from today about Nolan’s Oscar-winning film in Japan:


https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/01/world/asia/oppenheimer-opens-japan.html<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/01/world/asia/oppenheimer-opens-japan.html__;!!Mih3wA!BYumeJMpntiDJesPt8M6ayHxs2_oVQa65pBs2Wb2NyboyYR3We5AqbmlK6HFlz7duon1RMQ8vJPKBh7qkJSFNCiv-g$>


While there is a lot to to say about the reception of the film in Japan, I am particularly intrigued by this:


"Mindful of domestic sensitivities, some theaters in Japan are carrying trigger warnings, with signs cautioning audiences about scenes 'that may remind viewers of the damage caused by the atomic bombings.'”


I asked people I know in Japan who have seen the film, but they were not warned. Does anyone know what these “trigger warnings” might be?



Have these kinds of signs been used in other screenings in the past? Which theaters use them?


I would appreciate any information about this.


Thanks,

Rea







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