We viewed this docudrama at a book study on the acceptability of the Truman's decision to bomb Japan. I was expecting to see a presentation of the awful realities of the bombing and appreciated that it really got into what went on behind closed doors, leading up to August 6, 1945. We are allowed into the private discussions with Truman, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of State. Also, people like Robert Oppenheimer and Enrico Fermi make an appearance. There is a counter to these people as we watch Hirohito and the Japanese high command debate things like no surrender until the last Japanese citizen is dead. It is a little dry as these things must have been. For one thing, nobody knew exactly how much damage this bomb would do and whether it could even be delivered and armed. This is not preachy and I liked that. It showed nations under stress from the horrors of war, not knowing how many more of their loved ones would be lost. I spoke to several of my elderly friends and relatives who have continued to have no second thoughts about the decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They lived in a frightening world. Still, the horrible implications of nuclear weapons cause us to think. While this film would never win an Emmy for its acting, it gives us a view of the way things were and does in a pretty effective way.
