Barefoot Gen

I wrote this for a class, which explains why it's a bit more analytical/spoiler-filled.

I'm a little torn on Gen. On one hand, parts of it are a very forthright and honest look at the tragedy of the Hiroshima bombing. But in other parts, the tone doesn't seem to match the subject matter and it can even seem a little tasteless. The symbol of regrowing hair and grass to signify rebirth is nice, but his replacement brother suggesting his sister died so he could have his hair back just struck me as wrong.

The style is interesting, art-wise it's simple and it starts off like a normal, happy family movie (besides the war narration), and then when the bomb hits there's a complete transformation as everything goes to hell. After some time, things start to pick up and it transitions back to something like normal life. Gen is a strong character, a little too childish at times but at heart he does everything he can to help his family and those around him.

Theme-wise, the film is obviously anti-war, although it doesn't really point fingers at the US for dropping the bomb, in fact one character is directly critical of the Japanese government for putting them in the situation in the first place. While it's clear they're demonstrating the horror of war, they also say that it's not the end of everything, and life can go on even after something that horrible happens.