TV-PG, 83m, 1983

With the Voices Talents of Catherine Battistone (Gen Nakaoka), Barbara Goodson (Ryuta Hondo), Kirk Thornton (Daikichi Nakaoka), Iona Morris (Kimie Nakaoka), Brianne Siddall (Shinjee Nakaoka), Wendee Lee (Eiko Nakaoka), Michael McConnohie (Hidezo), Ardwright Chamberlain (Mr. Pak), Dan Worren (Seji Yoshida) and Joyce Kurtz (Hana). Directed by Mori Masaki. Produced by Yasuteru Iwase, Keiji Nakazawa and Takanori Yoshimoto. Screenplay by Keiji Nakazawa. Music by Kentaro Haneda. Based on Barefoot Gen by Keiji Nakazawa.

            Barefoot Gen is based on a manga series (Japanese comic books) of the same name by Keiji Nakazawa. He based the story on his experiences as a Hiroshima survivor. This makes the story feel much more personal and real. The film opens in war-torn Japan, where the residents of Hiroshima are feeling the devastating effects of prolonged war. Like many families, the Nakaoka family are forced to live on meager rations due to Japan having a massive food shortage. This proves especially hard on Gen’s mother, Kimie (Iona Morris), who is heavily pregnant and is suffering from malnutrition. The residents of Hiroshima are well aware of the bombing raids that are devastating other Japanese cities, but for some reason Hiroshima has not been bombed yet. This leads Daikichi, Gen’s father (Kirk Thornton), to wonder if they’re planning something special for Hiroshima. On August 6, 1945 Gen heads off to school with his friend, while is family is inside the house. At 8:15 AM the bomb goes off killing thousands of people. Gen is knocked unconscious and wakes to find his friend is dead. Gen runs back to his house and sees his mother desperately trying to raise a beam that has Daikichi, Shinji (Brianna Siddall) and Eiko (Wendee Lee) pinned under the burning house. Gen tries in vain to help his mother free the rest of the family. This leads to a very emotional scene where Daikichi tells Gen to take his mother and run to safety while Shinji and Eiko scream in pain. Gen drags his mother to safety where she gives birth to a baby girl named Tomoko. A few days later Gen and his mother are sifting through their destroyed house to recover the remains of the rest of their family, when they learn that Japan has just surrendered, and the war is now over (the date is August 15 to those who are keeping track). While eating a meager meal later that night, a small boy named Ryuta Hondo (Barbara Goodson) tries to steal some food. Ryuta looks exactly like Shinji, and because Ryuta no longer has a family, Gen and his mother invite Ryuta to live with them. The rest of the movie is about the small family trying to survive in this new hostile world.

            Needless to say, this movie is not meant for young children. This film has some very disturbing imagery. Right after the bomb goes off, we see a terrified little child holding a balloon, disintegrate in a horrific way (by this I mean her clothes and skin are literally blasted off while her eyes melt from their sockets). This is followed by a scene where a dog tries in vain to escape the blast. The dog doesn’t go quietly either, it whimpers in pain as it melts away. I actually find this scene to be important because when referencing the victims of the atomic bombs, animals are often omitted when it comes to Hiroshima and this scene showed that the blast killed indiscriminately. There’s also a scene involving what I call tasteful partial nudity. This scene involves a woman who has just lost her own baby offering Tomoko (Gen’s baby sister) her breasts. The reason why Kimie (Gen’s mother) is unable to feed her baby is because Kimie is so malnourished, she is unable to produce enough milk. I found this scene to be particularly powerful because it shows that even in the shadow of tragedy, the best of humanity is still able to shine through.

            This film makes excellent use of sound. Right after the bomb is dropped the film goes absolutely silent while the infamous flash is reflected against the characters we have come to know. There’s a song played at the end of the film called “Doko kare Kite Doko e Iku no Ka” by Harry, and the song plays as a paper boat lantern sails down river as Gen’s family silently prays. I found this to be the perfect ending for the film because it symbolizes that even though the family has lost almost everything, they still have hope for the future.

            Just as Saving Private Ryan is the perfect film to teach about D-Day, this film is the perfect tool for teaching about the atomic bombs and their aftermath. The film takes time to depict and talk about the horrors that the bombs brought. This is shown on physical and psychological levels. In one scene, Gen and Ryuta get a job from a man to take care his brother who has been heavily burned by the blast. At first the guy acts like a jerk, while the boys treat him with kindness. Eventually they both get so fed up with the guy that Gen slaps him. The guy calls them back and says its ok if they want to slap him some more. It’s then revealed that the guy has been treated as a corpse for so long that he’s thankful for any kind of human touch even a slap. This scene is a real testament to how great this film is and demonstrating that the effects of the bomb weren’t always physical.

            This film along with Grave of the Fireflies can best be described as the greatest films I never want to see again. While this film has good animation, great characters and a very touching story, its rather hard to sit through. With other sad films like Bambi, Up and Wolf Children, the audience doesn’t have a truly hard time sitting through the film because they know two things. The first is they know that the characters in this film are bound to get a happy ending, and the second is the film is not real. With Barefoot Gen, the audience really can’t think that. The film is based on an actual historical event where thousands of people, including young children, perished. This makes the film even more touching because it depicts what an often forgotten about people had to endure.