Winner of Best Picture Eight months after a contentious grassroots marketing campaign and worries about how its nuclear subject would be perceived in the only nation to experience atomic bombardment, Oppenheimer made its official debut in Japan on Friday.
The biggest winner of this month’s Academy Awards, Christopher Nolan’s film about American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who spearheaded the race to create the atomic bomb, has made about $1 billion in box office receipts worldwide.
Japan is a significant market for Hollywood, but up until recently, it has not been included in global screenings. At the end of World War Two, nuclear explosions destroyed the cities of Hiroshima in the west and Nagasaki in the south, killing over 200,000 people.
Kawai, 37, a native of Hiroshima, stated, “Of course, this is an amazing film that deserves to win the Academy Awards.” He only revealed his family name. “But as someone with ties to Hiroshima, I found it difficult to watch because the movie also seems to glorify the atomic bomb.”
Kawai, a government employee who loves Christopher Nolan’s movies, saw Oppenheimer on opening day at a theater a short distance from the Atomic Bomb Dome in the city. “I don’t think Japanese people should go out of their way to see this movie,” he continued.
Pictures shared on social media showed notices warning that the film had scenes from nuclear testing that might arouse memories of the bomb destruction. These signs were displayed at the gates to many Tokyo theaters.
When Agemi Kanegae, a resident of Hiroshima, finally saw the film, she experienced conflicting emotions. “It was an excellent movie to watch,” stated the 65-year-old retired individual. “But there were a few scenes, like Oppenheimer’s trial in the United States at the end, that really unnerved me.”
After its July release in the US, the movie swiftly gained international attention. However, “Barbenheimer” internet memes made by fans that connected it to Barbie, a frothy hit that came out around the same time, angered a lot of Japanese people.
Japan was originally not included in Universal Pictures’ plans for Oppenheimer’s worldwide distribution. It was eventually taken up by Japanese indie cinema distributor Bitters End, and a release date was set for the evening of the Oscars.
Atomic bomb survivor Teruko Yahata expressed her excitement for the film to Reuters prior to its premiere, saying she hoped it would spark fresh discussion about nuclear weapons. Yahata, who is 86 years old, said she had some sympathy for the bomb’s physicist. Student Rishu Kanemoto, 19, who attended the movie on Friday, agreed with that sentiment.
“The victims are unquestionably Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the locations of the atomic bombs,” Kanemoto declared. He said, alluding to the disgraced physicist, “But I think even though the inventor is one of the perpetrators, he’s also the victim caught up in the war.”
I am a dedicated student currently in my seventh semester, pursuing a degree in International Relations. Alongside my academic pursuits, I am actively engaged in the professional field as a content writer at the Rangeinn website.