Christopher Nolan’s latest offering Oppenheimer has a direct but painful connection with Japan.
So, as the film has been rolled out in theatres globally, questions have been raised over its status in the Japanese cinematic market.
The United States launched two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively, to force Japanese forces to surrender.
The attack raised the cities to the ground, killing at least 110,000 people.
But as far as release in the country is concerned, it has not entirely prohibited the WWII science epic film. Still, it has neither revealed the release date of the movie.
In June, the Universal spokesperson told Variety that “plans have not been finalized in all markets.”
As a result, Japanese cinemagoers will not be able to see Oppenheimer like the rest of the world.
Historically, the American scientist’s motives for the Japanese cities bombings were open to lively debate.
The 67-year-old was part of the scientific committee that gave the nod to the War Department to use the atomic bomb against Japan as early as possible.
But, a caveat was presented by the bomb-maker scientists, who argued that the bomb should be targeted at military targets only or instead tested publicly to scare the Japanese into surrender, according to NatGeo.
After the Hiroshima bombing at Los Alamos, the New York native was seen to have said that he regretted the bomb couldn’t be used against Germany.
However, the scientists were shocked by the horrors of the nuclear blast and the destruction it descended upon the civilians, leading Oppenheimer to lobby against developing an even stronger Hydrogen bomb.
