Oppenheimer has been received as one of the best movies of the past years; with many considering the movie a real masterpiece. The movie focuses on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, his key work in developing the atomic bomb, and the moral fight after seeing the devastating consequences of his creation.
However, something the movie doesn’t stress much is precisely the victims of the atomic bombs dropped in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and although it’s been almost 79 years since the horrible events, there are still some survivors living with the consequences of the bombs. How are they receiving Oppenheimer?
It’s been known that there is still no release date for the movie in Japan, and it’s still unknown if there will ever be. However, there’s one survivor that has already seen the film and decided to share his heartbreaking thoughts on Nolan’s approach.
Yasuaki Yamashita’s Thoughts on Oppenheimer
Yasuaki Yamashita was only a boy when the second atomic bomb was dropped on his home city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. As he recounts, he was walking back home with his mom when they saw a strange plane flying over the city. Being at war, they thought it would be a regular bombing, and his mother rushed him back to the house to hide in their shelter.
They had only reached the kitchen when the explosion happened. He remembers a blinding light like nothing he had seen before. Yamashita assures that the scene in the movie is quite accurate to what he experienced: “It was a tremendous explosion; as if it were a thousand lightning bolts at the same time. We began to feel things flying above us, but suddenly total silence.”
Tamashita was very interested in seeing the movie and understanding Robert Oppenheimer and his personality. He wanted some insight into the scientist’s thoughts while developing the most destructive weapon history had seen. “I was really shaking from sadness, memory, and suffering. When it was really going to be the scene of the atomic test, I started to suffer. I couldn’t watch the film. I had to cover my eyes and I started to cry,” said an emotional Yamashita.
For Yamashita, watching the film was worth it even despite all the suffering. But more importantly, he stated that Oppenheimer is “worth seeing, especially for young people. Let them know what happened; the whole process from the atomic bomb to its aftermath.” Like many survivors of the horrors of WWII, Yamashita says people must see and understand these tragedies so they can never happen again, “this can never, ever, happen again. No one can suffer as we suffered.”
Yasuaki Yamashita remembers the aftermath of the explosions as something terrible to endure. Not only had they lost their city, most of the population was experiencing the consequences of radiation. Yamashita experienced hemorrhage and anemia, besides passing out often. But this was nothing compared to the rejection of the people of his country.
Many wouldn’t even be near the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki fearing they could catch some of the effects of radiation. The constant discrimination he endured during his adolescence and early adulthood pushed Yamashita to hide his story. It was in 1968 when he finally saw an opportunity to start a new life outside all the rejection. He was sent to cover the Olympic Games in Mexico City; the moment he set foot in the country, he knew this is where he belonged. He’s lived there since.
Yasuaki Yamashita is an advocate against nuclear weapons and has devoted his life to speak about his experience as an atomic bomb survivor all over the world.
