Hellfire: A Journey From Hiroshima

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Hellfire: A Journey From Hiroshima

A Film by John Junkerman and John Dower

film still Haunted by memories of Hiroshima after the atomic blast, Iri and Toshi Maruki began a series of monumental paintings depicting what they had seen. These fifteen works, now known collectively as the Hiroshima Murals, have been viewed by more than ten million people around the world.

With engaging interviews and extended sequences of the Marukis painting, HELLFIRE traces the development of these artists' profound vision. "We paint dreadful scenes, cruel scenes, but I want to paint them with kindness," says Toshi Maruki. Their message is one of hope in the nuclear age, and a reminder of the power of art to render visible and meaningful what still seems unimaginable.

Study Guide available.

"These 15 'Hiroshima Murals' constitute one of the world's most powerful and sustained expressions of the effect of the atomic bomb." - New York Times

"The film hints at a great unspoken tenderness between the Marukis and implies that the sort of mutual respect and concern they show for each other may be the individual's only hope in a nuclear age. In this way HELLFIRE takes on the nobility of the effort it documents." - San Francisco Chronicle

"Uplifting." - The Nation

"HELLFIRE is important for audiences interested in art, history, and world peace and as such makes an important statement. Highly recommended." - Bill Howie, Library Journal

"Excellent... This film is suitable for college courses in ethics, aesthetics, political philosophy, or peace studies." - C. Ebenreck, Choice

"Capturing the two working on the floor of their studio, the camera spies both gray-haired, bespectacled painters, Iri with a moustache and pointed beard and Toshi dressed in a denim patchwork smock. Somehow their physical appearance reflects their technique - Iri's training was in traditional Japanese ink painting and Toshi's, in Western-style oils - yet their collaboration results in a powerful communication of the effect of the atomic bomb on human experience. While the mere though of the film's contents might cause one to lose hope, the message that is conveyed is positive... [a] seamless production." - Nancy McCray, Booklist

"HELLFIRE richly deserves national and international acclaim." - Capital Times (Madison, WI)

** 1988 Academy Award Nominee
** Grand Prize Winner, 1986 San Francisco Film Festival

58 minutes / color / 1986
Sale/video: $298
Rental/video: $100

Study guide available

Subject areas: Art, Asia, Japan, Nuclear Issues, Peace and Conflict Resolution, World War II

Related Titles:

Blowing Up Paradise: The story of thirty years of French nuclear testing in the South Pacific, including the lethal bombing of the "Rainbow Warrior" — the Greenpeace ship sunk by the French Secret Service.

I Am Become Death: They Made the Bomb: Illuminating stories told by scientists who actually worked on the Manhattan Project.

Japan's Peace Constitution: Explores the origins of Japan's Constitution in the ashes of war, and the significance of its famous peace clause, Article 9, and the debates surrounding it, in the 21st century.

Last updated 09/01/2006