Oppenheimer hit theaters in the Summer, and proved to be one of the best movies of the generation with an impressive reception almost all over the world. Being a movie about one of the most controversial moments in history, it’s only natural to think that the US’ “heroic” narrative behind the history of the atomic bomb isn’t seen that way by other countries, especially Japan.
With that in mind, it comes as no surprise that Nolan’s movie took so long to have a release date in Japan, the target of the bombs and the country that saw first-hand the devastation and horrors of Oppenheimer’s creation. Now, after five months since its global release, and after a lot of consideration, Oppenheimer has an official release date in Japan.
Japan often delays American releases and waits to see the impact and messages of their movies for a couple of weeks to determine if they are going to release them at all; as a matter of fact, Barbie premiered in Japan until August 11, almost a month after its worldwide release. That was not the case with Oppenheimer. Besides the fact that the movie deals with a very sensible episode in their history, many were offended by the many jokes in social media comparing Nolan’s movie with Barbie in the now iconic Barbenheimer. In Japan, this trend was seen as a trivialization of the atomic bombs and the horrors they caused in the land.
Although the theme is clearly a sensitive one for the Japanese audience, after thorough discussions, the film will finally be released in theaters sometime in 2024. “The film’s subject matter is of great importance and holds special meaning for Japanese people, so we decided to release it in Japan after various discussions and considerations,” Bitters End, the company in charge of distributing the film in Japan, said.
Oppenheimer has also had some issues in other countries like India, where an intimate scene was deemed as offensive to Hinduism. So, although many have considered Oppenheimer a masterpiece, or the film of the year, many others have highlighted serious issues.
Read more:
Historical Facts You Should Know Before Watching ‘Oppenheimer’
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