The Mushroom Club

Most people have probably heard of the bombing of Hiroshima. That event brought the whole world into the atomic age. Less understood by most people are the lasting effects of the blast on Hiroshima's population. Steven Okazaki's Academy Award-nominated documentary "The Mushroom Club" features interviews with some survivors of that destructive day. They've had to spend their lives with deformities, developmental disabilities, and other problems.

The documentary also notes that many of the survivors are dying out. What happens when none are left? The combination of US reluctance to apologize for the bombing and Japan's refusal to acknowledge its hideous war crimes in China and Korea does pose concern. Is the US and Japanese younger generations going to step up?

It's not the greatest documentary ever, but still addresses important points. I recommend it to everyone. My parents went to Hiroshima's Peace Museum when they went to Japan. It sounds like a place where everyone should go as a serious reminder of history.

This film is essentially a series of vignettes profiling survivors of the Hiroshima bomb and, in a few cases, their offspring, as well as the city itself. While the stories and the people themselves touch your heart, the movie lacks the direction to make it great. The filmmaker was present for a Q&A here in San Francisco tonight, during which he explained the reasoning behind his opening shots. It was a great idea that was forgotten by the end. There was one recurring image (twice) that was used to give it some structure but it seemed forced in its current form. Maybe it'll be better when the feature is done (the director is working on a longer, more comprehensive version for HBO that will include Nagasaki).