Hiroshima is a 1995 Japanese / Canadian film directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara and Roger Spottiswoode about the decision-making processes that led to the dropping of the atomic bombs by the United States on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki toward the end of World War II. Except as actors, no Americans took part in the production. The three-hour film was made for television and evidently had no theatrical release, but is available on DVD for home viewing. A combination of dramatisation, historical footage, and eyewitness interviews, the film alternates between documentary footage and the dramatic recreations. Both the dramatisations and most of the original footage are presented as sepia-toned images, serving to blur the distinction between them. The languages are English and Japanese, with subtitles, and the actors are largely Canadian and Japanese.
Acting
Welsh's Truman: folksy mask cracking under impossible weight.
Production
Sepia blending drama and archive — history as fever dream.
Writing
Bilingual script lets neither side off the hook.
Director
Roger Spottiswoode
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Zero American crew — the Japanese-Canadian co-production was deliberate to avoid Pentagon narrative control.
Released for the 50th anniversary, it sparked diplomatic complaints from both US veterans and Japanese conservatives for being too sympathetic to the other side.
US
