Hiroshima:
Master’s Project,
Spring 2010
Kazuo Matsumuro was 32 when she witnessed the
Hiroshima bombing 1300 meters from the epicenter. She
said that people's skin was falling off and they kept their
arms in front of them like zombies to prevent the skin from
sticking.
“There were the shadowy
forms of people, some of whom
looked like walking ghosts.
Others moved as though in
pain, the scarecrows, their
arms held out from their bodies
with forearms and hands
dangling. These people puzzled
me until I suddenly realized
that they had been burned and
were holding their arms out to
prevent the painful friction of
raw surfaces rubbing
together.”
Photos the U.S.Government
and Military Wanted the
Public to See
Hibakusha:
Bomb Affected People
Hibakusha Testimonies:
Gives a Face to the Tragedy
of the A-Bombings.
Produced by the Hiroshima
Peace Culture Foundation.
Takakura,
Hibakusha
Age 20
Numata, Age 22
Kang, Age 26
Excerpt from
Hiroshima Reflection
Paper
As an educator writing
an historical feature
film, I was and I am
aware that a movie
has the power to shape
how students and
citizens think about the
past.
Excerpt from
Hiroshima Reflection
Paper
As Robert Rosenstone has observed:
“It must be clear to even the most
academic of historians that the
visual media have become (perhaps)
the chief conveyor of public history,
that for every person who reads a
book on an historical topic which a
film has been made … many
millions of people are likely to
encounter that same past on the
screen.”
Excerpt from
Hiroshima Reflection
Paper
Without sufficient
background knowledge and
critical viewing skills, “a
possible (or probable)
outcome is for the filmic
account to ‘colonize’ their
[students’] thinking about
the past – taking up
residence in the mind as a
kind of literal truth”
(VanSledright, 2002).
Logline:
A Japanese-American spy smuggled into
Hiroshima, Japan in 1945 falls in love with a
young, wealthy Japanese woman jeopardizing
his mission and his life. Their love leads to a
chain reaction of events and the decision to
drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
RINGS OF TEARS
Focus Group Questions
How do you feel about the Hiroshima screenplay and project?
What went through your head as you read and/or reviewed
Hiroshima?
What struck you most about Hiroshima? (positive or negative)
What did you learn by reading and/or reviewing Hiroshima?
In your view, did Hiroshima succumb or avoid Presentism?
Do you have any additional thoughts or insights?
Presentism is “the act of viewing the past through the lens of the
present.”
Summary of Focus Group Findings
Hiroshima was authentic, well written and
avoided presentism.
One or two plot points and three or four
uses of dialogue could improve the story
even more.
The group agreed that Hiroshima be
marketed to independent producers in order
to retain the spirit of the project.
Further Reflections
What would be a Japanese audience’s reaction to
Hiroshima?
The Participants gained new historical
knowledge and insights into the dropping of the ABomb.
One Participant was very disturbed by the torture
scenes which prompted me to review their
necessity to the story.
The Participants did not bring up the issue of
English subtitling used when the characters speak
in Japanese.
Future Focus Group Questions
What three new historical facts did you learn by
reading the screenplay?
Whom does the movie want the audience to cheer for
or against?
What perspectives on the past does the movie
encourage the audience to empathize with and why?
What moral reactions about the past does the movie
aim to evoke, or provoke, in viewers?
Why is Hiroshima telling a story in a particular way?
Hiroshima begins and
Ends with the lanterns honoring
those who died
August 6, 1945
EXT. POND HIROSHIMA, JAPAN - NIGHT
Hundreds of red, orange and yellow paper lanterns, lit by single
candles, float and bob in a well kept pond.
Japanese elders in their eighties and nineties, some with burn
scares on their wrinkled faces and some with severe limps, hobble
with their families beside the pond.
Children playfully launch paper lanterns.
The sound of a running stream drowns out the gleeful cries of
children.
SETSU struggles to write on a piece of rice paper. Her hands have
a strong dose of arthritis.
Her twenty-one year old grandson, YOUNG SADAO, walks by
her side. His outfit typifies current Japanese pop culture. He
holds a red paper lantern.
Setsu hands paper and pen to young Sadao. He positions the
lantern on the ponds bank.
SETSU
Please write Sadao Finn.
YOUNG SADAO
Finn?
Sadao writes Sadao Finn on the rice paper.
Setsu sprinkles a few white chrysanthemum
petals inside the lantern.
Young Sadao squats down, lights the candle with
a butane lighter and with honor and respect
launches the lantern into the pond. The current
carries it away.
Setsu’s family follows the lantern. Setsu and
young Sadao hang back.
SETSU
Out of respect for your grandfather I never told
the true story. Now that he has passed away and
the times are more forgiving, I can share it.
(pause) It was dawn at our mountain home ...
My Website
The
End
Thank You!