The Oscar winner for Best Picture "Oppenheimer" is finally out in Japan, where its main subject - the man who masterminded the creation of the atomic bomb - is extremely sensitive and emotional.
The American blockbuster hit screens in the US and many other countries in July at the same time as "Barbie," inspiring a viral phenomenon dubbed "Barbenheimer" by movie buffs, AFP reported.
But while "Barbie" was released in Japan in August, "Oppenheimer" was conspicuously absent from cinemas for months.
No official explanation was given at the time, fueling speculation that the film was too controversial to be shown in Japan, the only country ever to suffer a nuclear attack.
Some 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and 74,000 in Nagasaki when the United States dropped atomic bombs on the cities in August 1945, days before the end of World War II.
The large downtown Tokyo cinema where "Oppenheimer" screened had none of the famous promotional material one might expect for a global megahit.
Instead, only a small poster advertised the film, which was made on a $100 million budget and has grossed nearly $1 billion at the global box office.
"The film is long, three hours, but I watched it carefully because it was so powerful," Masayuki Hayashi, 51, said after the film ended.
Japanese distributors may have chosen to avoid releasing the film in the summer, near the anniversary of the bombing, says Tatsuhisa Yue, 65.
"It would have been unthinkable if a film describing how the weapon was developed was not shown here," he added./BGNES
