Barefoot GenOn August 6th, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima, heralding the end of World War II. Approximately seventy-thousand people were killed in the blast, mostly civilians. These facts are merely a history of numbers, divested of the experiences of those who survived the hellish holocaust, or those who perished under abysmal circumstances. Barefoot Gen is an animated anti-war movie about a Japanese family's struggle to survive in Hiroshima during the last stages of World War II, and how that family is devastated by becoming some of the first victims of atomic warfare.
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Barefoot Gen regards the nations responsible for the war as distant and even inscrutable, citing names like "Oppenheimer" as remote architects of the tragedy to come. When the singular B-29 "flying fortress" Enola Gay flies over Hiroshima, the English dialogue spoken by the American pilots sounds alien and sterile against the Japanese dialogue--devoid of emotion, as though they were merely exterminating an infestation. This horrifyingly clinical approach to mass murder makes Gen's experiences on the ground all the more appalling. Barefoot Gen does not exclusively vilify the United States; it also criticizes the imperial Japanese government for allowing the war to escalate to such extremes. Before the atomic bombing, Gen and his father--along with Gen's younger brother, Shinji--are returning home, while a group of patriotic Japanese wave their fans and cheer on the war effort. Gen notices the exasperation on his father's face, who shares that it is no crime to be a "coward" or unpatriotic--it requires bravery to stand up for one's convictions. Gen's father adds that the government has already lost, and intimates that obstinance will only bring more ruin--he is proved dead right. The film presents a singularly Japanese view of the Hiroshima bombings, and the events that took place before and after it. The narration condemns the Japanese government because they suppressed news of the devastation in Hiroshima to save face, resulting in the second bombing in Nagasaki. No representatives of the government are caught in the destruction; the only people who suffer are the everyday citizens of Japan. For those not killed outright, the radiation promises a slow and agonizing death over time. The slick, black rain that falls in the aftermath is poison that coats their once beautiful, placid city, turned into nothing but ruins and corpses.
The defining moment in Barefoot Gen is unquestionably when the bomb is dropped, but the events that precede it emphasize Gen's tragedy. Gen and his family are coping with living in a nation losing a war, even if it has been heretofore something removed from their doorstep. They struggle with rations and food shortages; their primary concern is keeping up the health of Gen's pregnant mother while his father sands down and paints traditional Japanese geta sandals for sale. The bombing of Hiroshima is so sudden as to seem like a bad dream; after Gen regains consciousness, it is clear that this is his initial assessment. The nuclear explosion is depicted in unflinching detail, with graphic and disturbing imagery including adults and children being immolated by the four-thousand degree flash of heat, their eyes dissolving from their skulls as their skin is singed to a crisp. Gen's narrowly escapes this horrifying fate by sheer chance, lunging down to catch a rock he was casually tossing in his hand, inadvertently shielded behind a barricade. After the mushroom cloud, Gen and his mother's tribulations only escalate; the rest of his family are trapped underneath the wreckage of their home, burned alive before their eyes. Gen suddenly finds himself responsible for his mother, who comports herself with as much grace as possible, yet ultimately breaks in the face of so much horror. He also aids her in the birth of his newborn sister, who he names Tomoko in the hopes that she will survive to have "many friends". The unpreparedness of the survivors in dealing with the aftermath makes the tragedy so much worse. Gen witnesses a soldier disposing of bodies by the truckload suffer violent and bloody excretions, with his hair coming out by clumps--a side effect of the "pikadon" (radiation poisoning) devastating their insides, auguring a painful death. Gen understandably panics when his hair falls out in the same fashion, and falls into tears, expecting that any minute he will experience the same horrible death the soldier did. The family takes in a young boy named Ryuta, who bears a striking resemblance to his late brother, Shinji. He and Gen leverage their youthful zeal to make some money by attending to an embittered artist scarred by the bombing; they do this to buy milk for Tomoko, who becomes a symbol of hope after the tragedy. Characters try to use levity to deflect their pain and suffering, but the film never sugarcoats the terrible effects the war has had on noncombatants like Gen and his family. It is to Gen's credit that he keeps hope for his surviving family at the end. He honors them by setting free a wooden replica battleship he carved by hand--a memorial to his brother and all those who were lost in the attack and afterwards. Gen and his family represent all of the victims who paid the unreasonable price for the pride of politicians, comfortable considering them as collateral damage.
Recommended for: Fans of a Japanese animated movie with a poignant message about the atrocities of war and the devastation wrought upon noncombatants. Barefoot Gen is steadfast in its account of the grisly and disgusting damage inflicted on human beings as a result of the atomic bombing; despite moments of levity and child-like charm, it is unquestionably for mature audiences.
The defining moment in Barefoot Gen is unquestionably when the bomb is dropped, but the events that precede it emphasize Gen's tragedy. Gen and his family are coping with living in a nation losing a war, even if it has been heretofore something removed from their doorstep. They struggle with rations and food shortages; their primary concern is keeping up the health of Gen's pregnant mother while his father sands down and paints traditional Japanese geta sandals for sale. The bombing of Hiroshima is so sudden as to seem like a bad dream; after Gen regains consciousness, it is clear that this is his initial assessment. The nuclear explosion is depicted in unflinching detail, with graphic and disturbing imagery including adults and children being immolated by the four-thousand degree flash of heat, their eyes dissolving from their skulls as their skin is singed to a crisp. Gen's narrowly escapes this horrifying fate by sheer chance, lunging down to catch a rock he was casually tossing in his hand, inadvertently shielded behind a barricade. After the mushroom cloud, Gen and his mother's tribulations only escalate; the rest of his family are trapped underneath the wreckage of their home, burned alive before their eyes. Gen suddenly finds himself responsible for his mother, who comports herself with as much grace as possible, yet ultimately breaks in the face of so much horror. He also aids her in the birth of his newborn sister, who he names Tomoko in the hopes that she will survive to have "many friends". The unpreparedness of the survivors in dealing with the aftermath makes the tragedy so much worse. Gen witnesses a soldier disposing of bodies by the truckload suffer violent and bloody excretions, with his hair coming out by clumps--a side effect of the "pikadon" (radiation poisoning) devastating their insides, auguring a painful death. Gen understandably panics when his hair falls out in the same fashion, and falls into tears, expecting that any minute he will experience the same horrible death the soldier did. The family takes in a young boy named Ryuta, who bears a striking resemblance to his late brother, Shinji. He and Gen leverage their youthful zeal to make some money by attending to an embittered artist scarred by the bombing; they do this to buy milk for Tomoko, who becomes a symbol of hope after the tragedy. Characters try to use levity to deflect their pain and suffering, but the film never sugarcoats the terrible effects the war has had on noncombatants like Gen and his family. It is to Gen's credit that he keeps hope for his surviving family at the end. He honors them by setting free a wooden replica battleship he carved by hand--a memorial to his brother and all those who were lost in the attack and afterwards. Gen and his family represent all of the victims who paid the unreasonable price for the pride of politicians, comfortable considering them as collateral damage.
Recommended for: Fans of a Japanese animated movie with a poignant message about the atrocities of war and the devastation wrought upon noncombatants. Barefoot Gen is steadfast in its account of the grisly and disgusting damage inflicted on human beings as a result of the atomic bombing; despite moments of levity and child-like charm, it is unquestionably for mature audiences.