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      Black Rain

      Released May 13, 1989 2h 3m Drama List
      86% 14 Reviews Tomatometer 89% 1,000+ Ratings Audience Score Yasuko (Yoshiko Tanaka), a young Japanese woman, is in Hiroshima when the U.S. Air Force drops a nuclear explosive on the city. Despite the destruction all around her, Yasuko manages to escape unscathed, and, as other survivors fall ill with radiation poisoning, she is able to stay healthy. But later, when Yasuko goes to live with her uncle Shigematsu (Kazuo Kitamura), who tries to help her start a new life, she finds herself unable to escape the social stigma of radiation sickness. Read More Read Less

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      Black Rain

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      Critics Reviews

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      Andrew Schenker Slant Magazine While most of Black Rain takes place in 1950, the film's astonishing opening sequence places us at the epicenter of the event, August 1945. Rated: 3.5/4 Oct 15, 2009 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times [Shohei Imamura] shoots in beautifully textured black and white to tell the story of survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bomb who were contaminated by the fallout. Rated: 3.5/4 Jun 12, 2001 Full Review Peter Bowen OutWeek What is most poignant in this historic narrative is how profoundly it echoes a crisis currently happening all about us. May 19, 2020 Full Review Donald J. Levit ReelTalk Movie Reviews About normal citizens, one small family standing for many, 'Black Rain' won awards as well as censure in presenting the catastrophic dislocation of August 6, 1945, and subsequent suffering. Feb 6, 2014 Full Review John A. Nesbit Old School Reviews feels completely natural. Sobering and very, very real Rated: A- Feb 11, 2010 Full Review Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) Powerfully effective, and it addresses the issue of the national scarring of the bombings in a way that no one else ever has. Rated: 4/5 Nov 18, 2009 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Dominique W Doesn't live up to its potential, but remains visually and dramatically powerful. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review William K Touching and haunting story details the impact the Hiroshima bombing had on one family's lives, caught in exquisite black and white imagery. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Started to wonder if this movie was based off the Hiroshima museum or vice versa, felt like it covered the same dramatic points. A heavy subject, I think was handled better in Hiroshima Mon Amour. Not an easy topic for a Japanese national to show in film. I admire it's intent, but it kind of felt like Oliver Stones World Trade Center in terms of sentimentality. Don't like criticizing this movie because nuclear warfare in history is something I feel is quite important. The actual shot with the black rain I won't forget though. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member The Multiple award winning Black Rain (Japanese title Kuroi Ame) tells the tale a group of survivors facing the aftermath of the devastation caused by the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The movie starts off on that tragic day were 200,000 souls perished along with a city. Bodies are charred black and frozen in time, skin melts off people's bodies, people are blinded by the light of a flash that is described as "brighter than a thousand suns." People who drank water from the poisoned lake die soon after. Black rain falls on the city after the bombing, an effect of the mushroom cloud. The movie is beautifully shot in black and white. The story mainly focuses on Yasuko a young woman who experienced the blast. She lives with her aunt and uncle who are trying to find a marriage partner for her but worry about her prospects because of fear of what the side effects of the black rain that touched her skin. She vows to never marry and live with and take care of them. Perhaps an homage to Yasujiro Ozu's films. There is a side story about Yuichi, a former Imperial Army soldier who suffers from post traumatic stress that is triggered when he hears vehicles passing by (he thinks they're army tanks). A subtle and nuanced film worth seeing. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Even the preachy parts linger. Imamura plants such unforgettable images in the viewerâ(TM)s brain that to watch a film of his is to agree to watch it again and again, whether in your mind or on the screen. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member An emotionally exhaustive film about a Japanese family who attempts to adjust to life after the nuclear bombing at Hiroshima. The opening sequence of this film is incredibly haunting, as we witness the tragedy of Hiroshima up close and personal from the villagers point of view. Imamura doesn't shy away from showing us the horrific imagery, from the scorched bodies everywhere to one particularly lasting image of a burnt woman, holding her dead baby, screaming. Most of the film chronicles the everyday life of this one particularly family five years after the bombing. This is a grim experience as we watch this family and their friends slowly wasting away, knowing that ti's only a matter of time until they contract radiation sickness. The narrative focuses on these two parents desperately trying to find a husband for their daughter, Yasuko, whose potential radiation sickness scares off almost all suitors. Everything about this film is handled with extreme care and it's pretty much perfect. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis Yasuko (Yoshiko Tanaka), a young Japanese woman, is in Hiroshima when the U.S. Air Force drops a nuclear explosive on the city. Despite the destruction all around her, Yasuko manages to escape unscathed, and, as other survivors fall ill with radiation poisoning, she is able to stay healthy. But later, when Yasuko goes to live with her uncle Shigematsu (Kazuo Kitamura), who tries to help her start a new life, she finds herself unable to escape the social stigma of radiation sickness.
      Director
      Shôhei Imamura
      Production Co
      Imamura Productions
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      Japanese
      Release Date (Theaters)
      May 13, 1989, Original
      Release Date (Streaming)
      May 22, 2017
      Runtime
      2h 3m
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