The Day After Trinity (documentary - 1981)

The sky was the limit

By: JWBM

Anyone who's seen imagery or heard stories from World War II wouldn't argue that it was anything less than primal, traumatic, gruesome, and life-changing for all involved. Each side—whether they were Axis or Allies—had goals in mind to come out on top. One could say this war was a technological and scientific race: from aeronautics, code breaking, chemical warfare, weaponry, to, here, bomb making. Decisions were often made higher up in the food chain and then carried out by those people handed down their orders to follow. Every attack at that point had a counter; what made the proposition of the atomic bomb different was it would have a total one-sided success rate. Once it was dropped, everyone on the opposing side should start saying their respective prayers.

In the beginning of the war, Albert Einstein proposed to the US government that German physicists were well on their way to developing the atomic bomb. US Major General Leslie Groves appointed Robert Oppenheimer—a highly respected American scientist—to lead teams towards beating Hitler and his physicists to the punch. This led to a remote area in New Mexico that would be not only secretive, but would also be used in case there was fallout if successful. Eventually all walks of the scientific elite came together and formed a community that would make it their set goal despite budget or having a social life outside of the complex. The sky was the limit—literally.

One of the most important points made in this documentary and one that some of the scientists grappled with once the smoke cleared, was what could a bomb of that size do on its own, and what would happen if it was dropped on living, breathing persons? All this manpower, time, and resources poured into this project, and more importantly all those young, countless soldiers' lives lost. Germany was out of the picture now, but Japan would not cease fire despite efforts to come to a deal made by then President Harry S. Truman. It was a decision not for the feint of heart, nor one without a compassionate heart. What took years to develop, now came to fruition and was being used before anyone could think twice about it. The impression was that the American people—who had friends and family involved with the war—could go back to their lives. Oppenheimer felt otherwise about something so quickly and massively destructive.

It's interesting to hear the thought processes that led up to the atomic bomb. Though being made in '81, this is a slower moving documentary than most nowadays might be accustomed to. A share of the people being interviewed are dry and slightly eccentric academics that speak freely and at their own pace. There are no rapid edits or gravitating music to sway the viewer. It takes on one word and point at a time without jumping around. Though, in that regard, one can be assured that these were the direct opinions and viewpoints of those involved. This mixes science and politics; something that looks like oil meeting water. The latter half of this documentary focuses on just that: Oppenheimer's rise and fall from both politics and science due to a series of complexities.

Director: Jon Else
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link

White Light, Black Rain (HBO documentary - 2007)

How does one survive after the impossible?

By: JWBM

From the ordinary and mundane, to instant destruction and calamity— flames, death, and horrifying imagary to those still alive—these are the accounts of the fateful days in August 1945 when two atomic bombs were systematically dropped and detonated on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan during the tail end of World War II.

One could argue using the bombs was a culmination of events leading up to it: from possible payback for Pearl Harbor, or even what the Japanese military did to Nanking, with senseless rape, destruction, and death tolls estimated to be 200,000. Though, without getting too political—if that's possible for a depiction of war—this HBO documentary hones in on the regular Joes and Janes of Japan and the US, then examines how it impacted them then and in the time since.

"Little Boy" and "Fat Man"—as the bombs were called—caused near obliteration. It was a miracle that anyone survived; many didn't leave in one piece: in body or mind. All that they knew at that time vanished in an instant, like a colony of oblivious ants devastated by a stick of TNT. Except these people had names, personalities, families, and lives to look forward to. The ones that moved on and lived a full life, despite the obstacles, were able to share their thoughts and how it affected them. Some describe it point blank, while others have trouble repeating the words that come with an inseparable feeling of trauma, or with permanent imprinted images in their heads. Many have extensive injuries, such as missing appendages, unexplainable medical issues, and deep scars. The amount of will power and endurance some of these survivors went through—and are still going through—during their recovery period is commendable.

"White Light, Black Rain" is clear, concise, and moving. It gives room to breathe over other documentaries that were held back by time constraints, available resources,  adequate budget, or a lack of focus. It sticks to a dedicated purpose to those who survived without attempting to take on other aspects that can't be changed or that would steer the tone into another direction. There are whys and hows talked about here, though its sights aren't on military history or to dissect blame. It's going for an intimate and compassionate look at these peoples' lives that were blessed enough to have another purpose after something so nightmarishly chaotic. My favorite interview was with Katsuji Yoshida of Nagasaki who goes on to talk about his mother's support and love, along with his gotta-move-on outlook, and ability to smile wide despite people's unfavorable looks and treatment. Others, due to plastic surgery, may look fine from the outside, but may be sole survivors from an extensive family, haven't been able to have children of their own, or seek constant treatment from something that has baffled doctors throughout the years since.

Some of the imagery and spoken descriptions are intense with detailing the aftermath. This isn't a feature to put on for a happy Saturday afternoon, though if you're looking for another perspective to these events at the end of World War II that comes with a message, then this does an excellent job at giving viewpoints with enough emotion to affect one for days.

Director: Steven Okazaki (Living on Tokyo Time; The Lisa Theory)
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link

The Hunt for Nazi Scientists (PBS documentary - 2005)

Allies versus Axis: A race for technological advancement

By: JWBM

Towards the latter portion of World War II, technological advances were heating up to a boiling point. More clever and destructive means were being invented and employed to get an upper hand in the war. It was to the point of being a coin toss of who could have come out on top, or who would have been crushed savagely by boots below.

Jewish physicists—that fled from Germany to the United States—warned the American government that Nazi scientists were on the track to inventing the atomic bomb; considering they were the first to split the atom, along with to discover nuclear fission. The US didn't waste time and implemented their own action plan: "The Manhattan Project." A man by the name of Robert Furman was recruited to head a parallel mission to dismantle Hitler's nuclear program with the objective to halt head Nazi physicist Werner Heisenberg in his tracks.

Meanwhile, Germans were simultaneously attacking European targets with neighborhood-flattening self-guided missiles that were near impossible to stop once the course was plotted. It was unlike anything anyone has seen before, or knew how to react fast enough to handle. British intelligence assembled their own team—30 AU—to stop or capture German rocket engineers, including their leader: Werner Von Braun, a Major in the SS; along with Hellmuth Walter, inventor of advanced fighter planes that could put a spin on things to come. Once the dust settled after the war, there was controversy due to their expertise being too tempting not to exploit by the US and Russia.

This uses a combination of interviews with living persons of interest, archive footage, re-enactments, and voice over to tie it all together. There's a high quality and seamlessness to it. For the most part, it keeps a steady momentum by highlighting certain pivotal points. However, it acts more as an overview—you won't get an exact time line, or the means to show everything or everybody behind the scenes. By being a little longer, it could have benefited by showing Russian, Italian, and Japanese points of view. That's where a lengthy history book would end up filling in the gaps to the rest where this medium—PBS' "Secrets of the Dead"—might pose a challenge as a televised event. It seems more to loop you in to a specific window of history that was classified and secretive for decades after the war. I found myself engaged and captivated by all this technological advancement in such a short time; while other portions then showed the grave consequences those led to. It was a mixed time in history, where scientific advancement was at an all time high level, no doubt, though things nearly escalated to a point of no return.

Director: Mark Radice
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link
PBS: Episode link

Night and Fog (documentary - 1956)

One of mankind's darkest chapters

By: JWBM

When one reflects on the rise of Nazism, it's commonly viewed as the extreme of one group of people deciding that other groups are inferior and must be experimented on or extinguished outright. It feels surreal to think it was taken to this level in the 1930s and '40s—a time when technology, sciences, and the arts were all flourishing and attempting to make us more enlightened human beings. While there were specific atrocities and nightmarish realities that led up to and were a cause to intervene with a second World War, this documentary is essentially a haunting reminder and remembrance of people and places. 

This French made film—released in 1956—opens the doors to concentration camps and what they were capable of with earlier archive shots, along with some present footage then. These were ruthless, uncompassionate machines that stripped identities, robbed all hope, and made those cast under its shadow have a sense of worth to that of compost. To me, this was one of the clearest indicators that the bubble we live in can pop at any time. We're all just a thin layer away from being exposed to the darker side of humanity if not checked. 

Reading excerpts and hearing testimonials is one aspect to get the message through as to what happened, though seeing the amount of frail, nearly lifeless people on the verge of death before your eyes is a harrowing experience in itself. What got me after a culmination of scenes, was where people died as mere skin and bones, and were then bulldozed into a ditch of sorts like a soon-to-be-forgotten waste of space and resources. It makes the mind race as to what those people would have become, and how another could so easily crush another if given free reign. 

This documentary is eye-opening and is known for providing the naked truth as to what happened in visuals and commentary. This would be a no frills work if it weren't for the steady background music and poetic tellings of these people and places. It can be harsh and relentless with the amount of suffering and travesty shown, though it's purposeful in its intent and would be a disservice if it held back. This piece isn't necessarily well-rounded as a reporting tool of the surrounding events: there are no interviews, spoken first hand accounts, or even variants in tone. Being only 32 minutes in length, it often gets to the point and moves on; occasionally jumping around and providing some unintentional overlap. There isn't necessarily hope or contrast here either, though, if history took a different turn, things may have been decades of further inhumanity. With that, the message is clear. 

Director: Alain Resnais

Info: IMDB link

Trailer: Youtube link