Oscar winner ‘Oppenheimer’ finally screened in Japan, the only country to suffer an atomic bombing

Japan had been left out of worldwide screenings over how its nuclear theme would be received in the only country to suffer atomic bombing

Nuclear blasts devastated the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the close of World War II, killing more than 200,000

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A woman walks past an advertisement of ‘Oppenheimer’ in Tokyo on Friday. The best picture winner at the Oscars was finally released in Japan, where its subject -- the man who masterminded the atomic bomb -- is a highly sensitive and emotional topic. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:16pm, 29 Mar 2024

Best picture winner Oppenheimer finally premiered in Japan on Friday, eight months after a controversial grass roots marketing push and concerns about how its nuclear theme would be received in the only country to suffer atomic bombing.

The biggest winner at this month’s Academy Awards, the film directed by Christopher Nolan about US physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who led the race to develop the atomic bomb, has grossed nearly US$1 billion globally.

But Japan had been left out of worldwide screenings until now, despite being a major market for Hollywood. Nuclear blasts devastated its western city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the south at the close of World War II, killing more than 200,000.

“Of course this is an amazing film which deserves to win the Academy Awards,” said Hiroshima resident Kawai, 37, who gave only his family name.

“But the film also depicts the atomic bomb in a way that seems to praise it, and, as a person with roots in Hiroshima, I found it difficult to watch.”

A big fan of Nolan’s films, Kawai, a public servant, went to see Oppenheimer on opening day at a theatre that is just a kilometre from the city’s Atomic Bomb Dome.

28:10

Will Japan give Oppenheimer a chance?

“I’m not sure this is a movie that Japanese people should make a special effort to watch,” he added.

Oscar winner ‘Oppenheimer’ finally screened in Japan, the only country to suffer an atomic bombing

Japan had been left out of worldwide screenings over how its nuclear theme would be received in the only country to suffer atomic bombing Nuclear blasts devastated the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the close of World War II, killing more than 200,000

Japan had been left out of worldwide screenings over how its nuclear theme would be received in the only country to suffer atomic bombing

Nuclear blasts devastated the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the close of World War II, killing more than 200,000