Watch Kids' Reviews of
LAST ATOMIC BOMB, THE

Directed by documentarian Robert Richter, the film interviews octogenarian survivors, historians and government officials who address the U. S.'s reasons for using the bomb and argue about it's necessity, the enforced press code that banned publicizing the actual effects of radiation, and the Japanese discrimination against hibakushya (bomb survivors) Its star, Sakue Shimohira, is a hibakushya who has devoted her life to nuclear arms non-proliferation. It is a wake up call that implores our youth to support nuclear disarmament. Heart-wrenching photographs and old-time radio announcements made the Hiroshima and Nagasaki victims very real in this important film about world history. The first half was stunning and taught history in a way that many might not have seen before. The second half seemed to stretch a bit, and got too long, detracting from the powerful message of the first half.

A documentation of the gut-wrenching yet inspirational life of a Nagasaki bomb survivor, interwoven with the decision to use the bomb, censorship, discrimination, Cold War weapons build-up, nuclear proliferation and the nuclear abolition campaign.