Photo/Illutration A-bomb survivor and doctor Masao Tomonaga, left, and political scientist Kazuhiro Maeshima take  questions from the audience after a March 18 preview screening of “Oppenheimer” in Nagasaki. (Emika Terashima)

NAGASAKI--“Oppenheimer,” the blockbuster biopic of the season about “the father of the atomic bomb” that received a delayed release in Japan, was bound to be dissected by critics looking for inaccuracies in the telling of the story.

The Oscar-nominated picture was released in Japan on March 29, roughly eight months behind the United States.

Critics in Japan complained after preview screenings there were too few scenes depicting the devastation following the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and also not enough about the victims in light of the fact that tens of thousands of people were killed in the attacks.

However, one hibakusha atomic bomb survivor noted that the titular character is devastated “enough” by the horror of his own creation. 

The film follows the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the U.S. theoretical physicist who led the Manhattan Project to develop and manufacture atomic bombs. It looks at the bombing of Japan in the last days of World War II from his perspective.

Oppenheimer died in 1967 aged 62.

It portrays how a tormented Oppenheimer is left to the mercy of the times against the backdrop of World War II, the Cold War, the so-called Red Scare and other events.

Directed by acclaimed British filmmaker Christopher Nolan, the film won seven Academy Awards, including Oscar for Best Picture.

A preview screening for college students, followed up by a talk with A-bomb survivors, was held here March 18.

Masao Tomonaga, 80, a hibakusha and doctor, and political scientist Kazuhiro Maeshima appeared on stage to explain the film’s historical background and shared their opinions about the movie.

One student said, “I felt really uncomfortable to see how people were overjoyed and praised each other in a frenzy after the initial bomb tests.”

“I agree,” Tomonaga said, before talking about the absence of portrayals of survivors in the film.

“Oppenheimer says in his dialogue how he is shocked by the realities of the atomic bombing,” Tomonaga said. “That was enough.”

Maeshima added: “The film contains a message that we must focus on again that nuclear weapons rule today’s world. It is a film that reflects changes in the United States.”

After the event, 18-year-old college student Mizuna Tsukane, said: “As I watched the film, it made me think of the words and faces of hibakusha that I have met so far. But there was not so much information, which would make it difficult for those with no previous knowledge, to grasp the feelings of hibakusha.”

Minori Yasuno, 17, a second-year senior high school student, said: “I watched it from a new perspective of those who (decided to) drop the atomic bomb. It is a film that makes audiences think about how our curiosity is unstoppable while it can be used to bring happiness in the future.”

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