Rent Hiroshima (1953)
3.9 of 5 from 59 ratings
1h 44min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
"Hiroshima" (1953) is a powerful evocation of the devastation wrought by the world's first deployment of the atomic bomb and its aftermath, based on the written eye-witness accounts of its child survivors compiled by Dr. Arata Osada for the 1951 book 'Children of the A-Bomb: Testament of the Boys and Girls of Hiroshima'. Adapted for the screen by independent director Hideo Sekigawa (Listen to the Voices of the Sea, Tokyo Untouchable) and screenwriter Yasutaro Yagi (Theatre of Life, Rice), Hiroshima combines a harrowing documentary realism with moving human drama, in a tale of the suffering, endurance, and survival of a group of teachers, their students, and their families. It boasts a rousing score composed by Akira Ifukube (Godzilla) and an all-star cast including Yumeji Tsukioka (Late Spring, The Eternal Breasts), Isuzu Yamada (Throne of Blood, Yojimbo), and Eiji Okada (Hiroshima Mon Amour, Woman in the Dunes), appearing alongside an estimated 90,000 residents from the city as extras, including many survivors from that fateful day on 6th August 1945. "Hiroshima" was produced outside of the studio system by the Japan Teachers' Union after the mixed critical reception to the first dramatic feature to deal directly with the atomic bombing, 'Children of Hiroshima' (1952), directed by Kaneto Shindo the previous year. Although sequences from the film were used in Alain Resnais' classic of French New Wave cinema, 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' (1959), it has been effectively out of circulation since its original release in 1953 due to the force and political sensitivity of its message. - Actors:
- Eiji Okada, Yumeji Tsukioka, Yoshi Katô, Takashi Kanda, Isuzu Yamada, Tokue Hanazawa, Kenzô Kawarasaki, Shizue Kawarazaki, Hatae Kishi, Eitarô Matsuyama, Masao Mishima, Yasushi Nagata, Masami Shimojô, Kinzô Shin, Kenji Susukida, Harue Tone, Saburô Ukita, Sakae Umezu
- Directors:
- Hideo Sekigawa
- Producers:
- Takerô Itô, Takeo Kikuchi
- Writers:
- Yasutarô Yagi
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama
- Countries:
- Japan
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 13/07/2020
- Run Time:
- 104 minutes
- Languages:
- Japanese Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono
- Subtitles:
- English
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.37:1
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Archival interview with actress Yumeji Tsukioka
- 'Hiroshima Nagasaki Download' (2011), a 73-minute documentary featuring interviews with survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings now residing in the United States, with an introduction by the director Shinpei Takeda
- 'Hiroshima, Cinema and Japan's Nuclear Imagination', a new video essay by Jasper Sharp
