HIROSHIMA: Both positive and negative comments about “Oppenheimer” have been heard in the atomic-bombed city of Hiroshima since the biographic film about Robert Oppenheimer, the US physicist known as the “father of the atomic bomb,” hit screens in Japan late last month.

While some said the movie, which won seven Oscars including best picture at this year’s US Academy Awards, will provide an opportunity to discuss the abolition of nuclear weapons, some others complained that the depiction is insufficient because there is no scene of an atomic bomb being dropped.

On March 29, the premiere day of Oppenheimer in Japan, many viewers visited the Hachoza movie theater in Hiroshima. According to the theater, the film has continued to attract a lot of people there.

“Oppenheimer was a person with tremendous distress,” said Ai Gunji, a 16-year-old second-year high school student in Hiroshima who saw the film on the premiere day.

“It was a movie in which you can learn the viewpoint of the person who made the atomic bomb,” Gunji said, evaluating the film positively.

Meanwhile, Toshiko Sawada, 82, a resident of Hiroshima, expressed her dissatisfaction, saying, “I was very sad and irritated at the scene where everyone was happy about the successful (atomic bomb) testing.”

Toshiyuki Mimaki, 82, who heads the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, saw the movie twice.

“The movie ended without showing the bombing of Hiroshima,” Mimaki said regretfully. “Even just a brief scene (of the bombing) would have allowed viewers to learn of the horrors of nuclear weapons.”

At the same time, Mimaki said, “I want various people to see the movie and have a lot of discussions,” expressing his expectations that the film will help promote debates on the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Takashi Hiraoka, 96, who served as Hiroshima mayor for eight years from 1991 and disseminated the thoughts of the atomic-bombed city through Hiroshima Peace Declarations at annual memorial ceremonies, said the film raises many issues, including the pros and cons of nuclear weapons and the Red Scare of removing communists from public offices.

“Especially for Japanese people, the movie offers an opportunity to think about the issue of atomic bombs,” Hiraoka said.

As for the content of the movie, Hiraoka said: “I wish it depicted the horrors of radiation more. The horrors are not explained sufficiently.” He also criticized the film for justifying the use of atomic bombs against Japan for saving the lives of Americans.

JIJI Press