Hadashi no Gen (1983) Barefoot Gen

Directed by Mori Masaki

Please be aware, these comments neccessitated including spoilers!

An anime set in Hiroshima in 1945, the character animation is rather crude but that doesnt prevent this from being an outstanding albeit very disturbing film.

Apparently this is based on an autobiographical account, and was written with the intention to show what it was like before, during and after the bomb in Hiroshima, it is an incredible story of survival under the harshest conditions and carries a message of humanity and hope. 

Gen lives with his father, his heavily pregnant mother, older sister Keiko and younger brother Shinji, they are a close family and Gens father has sense to realise that Japan should finish the war by surrendering although of course this is seen by others as traitorous and cowardly. Days go by with the routines of planting wheat, going to school; Gen and Shinji are typical of any brothers, arguing with each other one minute, laughing together the next. A few false alarm air raids interrupt the flow of the daily routine every now and again but not enough to disrupt their lives too much.

Then the day comes, what appears to be another false alarm turns into hell on earth as the atom bomb hits Hiroshima, what follows are some of the most graphically disturbing images youre ever likely to see, it wouldnt surprise me if James Cameron used these scenes as inspiration for the dream sequence at the start of Terminator 2 but these are far worse and far more painful, the full effects are shown as men, women and children are turned to ash and scattered to the breeze, my 16 year old son was absolutely gobsmacked, stunned into total silence!

Following the explosion Gen runs to his familys home, he finds his mother desperately trying to free the others from the wreckage of the house as fires start burning all around, Shinji cries pitifully because of the heat as Gen joins in the rescue attempt but its too late, Gens father tells him to take his mother and get out while they can, he knows that he and the two children have no hope of escape and doesnt want to see the whole family die. Gen promises to look after his mother and has to literally drag her away from the flames before they like their trapped kin are burned alive. 

All through the film a narrator is relaying historical data, times, dates etc and strangely (after all this is Japanese) he apportions as much if not more blame on the Japanese government as he does on America for the bombing, he blames the government even more for the following bomb on Nagasaki because they wouldnt even consider surrender despite the US warning that another bomb would be dropped. 

What follows then is the struggle for Gen, his mother and the new born sister to survive, Gens hair starts falling out and despite his and his mothers best efforts, the baby girl dies of malnutrition, death and disease surround them but they still have hope for a future, the human spirit can be an incredible thing at times.

As previously mentioned, there are many very disturbing images after the bomb has been dropped and despite the rather low BBFC certification I would advise caution. Despite the poor character animation this film comes very highly recommended for the story.

Cheers Trev

BBFC rated 12.