This is a deeply sad and painful movie, yet Imamura still manages to make it fascinating to watch. The story begins with the horrors of the atomic blast at Hiroshima, but the real focus is on the aftermath. It tells the story of Yasuko, a young woman who was exposed to what the characters call "the flash," and the efforts of her family, her uncle especially, to find her a husband and a normal life. But suitors mostly steer clear (because of the possibility that she has radiation sickness), and she turns down opportunities to work since the family is counting on her becoming a bride. It is an interesting look at life in postwar, rural Japan, as well as a portrayal of the miseries that war can inflict on people years after the conflict has died down. Adapted from a novel by Masuji Ibuse.
Review of Black Rain
Black Rain
(1989)
On the harm that war can do, years after the last bombs have fallen
17 October 2023