Documentary Pick: Hiroshima: BBC History of World War II (2005)
In a little less than two weeks, we’ll mark the 69th anniversary of a historic landmark in science, warfare, and the human drive for self-destruction: the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. On the early morning of August 6, 1945, the Enola Gay under the command of Col. Paul W. Tibbets, Jr. dropped the bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” on the industrial and militarily significant city of Hiroshima, exploding with the power 16 kilotons of dynamite, evaporating everything within the mile of the explosion, and setting fire to anything within four miles. Almost overnight, a drawn out siege of the Japanese home islands seemed unlikely, and Japan bent to the power unleashed by the world’s first weapons of mass destruction. Of course, there’s more to the story than that.
Commissioned in time for then 60th anniversary of the bomb, Hiroshima: BBC History of World War II painstakingly realizes the weeks, days and hours leading up the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and follows the aftermath for the American flight crew that dropped it and the people on the ground who suffered though it. Using reenactments, computer effects, archival footage, interviews with witnesses, and the occasionally grim yet still dulcet tones of actor John Hurt narrating, the bombing of Hiroshima is recounted in stunning detail, delicately handling the political decisions, war maneuvers and human cost of the atom bomb.
The engaging thing about the documentary Hiroshima is that it shows us in this instance, like in a lot of historical events, the devil’s in the details; there were a million things that could have gone wrong with the mission, or were accidents that ended up going right. The personal stories bring into relief the full impact of the event from both the Japanese and American perspectives, from Dr. Shuntaro Hida, who survived the bomb because he was making a house call outside town when the bomb fell, to Col. Tibbets, who paradoxically bore no regret for commanding the mission that killed so many, so horribly. With the skill of a major Hollywood film, but with the poignancy and gravitas of personal stories that collectively form this history, the story of Hiroshima has never been more vividly told. It’s not a message film, at least not explicitly, but if there is a message of import, it’s a simple one: never forget.