Radio bikini

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Movie
Original title Radio bikini
Country of production United States ,
United Kingdom
original language English
Publishing year 1988
length 56 minutes
Rod
Director Robert Stone
production Kevin Rafferty ,
Robert Stone
music Robert Fitzsimons
camera John Rayter ,
Robert Stone
cut Robert Stone
occupation

Radio Bikini is a US-British documentary film by Robert Stone from 1988. The film documents the nuclear weapons tests in the vicinity of Bikini Atoll during Operation Crossroads in 1946 and their effects on the indigenous population and the US soldiers themselves .

The film premiered in January 1988 at the Sundance Film Festival . In the same year, the film competed for an Oscar for Best Documentary , but could not win the award. The title of the film refers to the radio station installed on the island for entertainment and information, similar to the AFN .

content

In 1946 the USA invited media representatives from all over the world to demonstrate their superiority with the nuclear weapons tests. The mostly young soldiers thought they were on vacation in Hawaii with free beer and ice cream .

The first test "Able" from the air at a distance of 20 miles was received with disappointment because it had no noticeable effect. The second test "Baker" underwater had unexpectedly drastic consequences, so that the third test "Charlie" was canceled.

As a result of "Baker", the islands were uninhabitable for decades and thousands of people were contaminated . On the island of Rongdrik , where the residents of Bikini had been brought to safety, radioactive snow fell, which contaminated them so badly that many had their thyroid glands removed. Robbed of their homeland, they lived scattered across the Marshall Islands in the decades that followed .

The consequences of the nuclear weapons tests also hit the US soldiers themselves. The US soldier John Smitherman had swollen legs after the Crossroads tests. His left leg was removed in 1977, and the right one a year later. In 1978 he had to have an operation on his knee, and a little later his hand swelled. He died of cancer in 1983 , shortly after the film was made.

background

As with The Atomic Café  (1982), archive material from the Cold War era was used for the film , some of which had just been released from secrecy. In addition to recordings of original radio broadcasts, original recordings of the atomic bomb explosions were used. In contrast to the film Atomic Café , in which producer Kevin Rafferty played a key role, Radio Bikini is “not a bizarre compilation of the most absurd protective measures from the Cold War”, but a “harrowing documentary”.

Radio Bikini ran on television in 25 countries, including as an episode of the Emmy- winning TV series The American Experience , and is now only available on DVD from the USA.

criticism

In the review of the Sundance Film Festival , Mitchell W. Block spoke of a “moving and powerful film”. The Los Angeles Times wrote that the film was "an outstanding achievement in every respect" and "an exceptionally sharp, gripping and informative documentary." He presented himself with “subliminal blame”, but his “underlying passion” burned “into our memories and our souls”.

LA Weekly wrote that Radio Bikini was a "terrific documentary" and "brilliantly edited". The tragic thing about the film is the truthfulness of the “ Dr. Strangelove ”irony. The London Times concluded that the film was "a remarkable documentary collage". The "frightening beauty of the explosions" "couldn't even have done Busby Berkeley better."

Awards

In addition to the Oscar nomination, the film received the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco Film Festival and the Silver Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival . Radio Bikini also received the Erik Barnouw Award from the Organization of American Historians .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Steve Blackburn: Radio Bikini . In: The New York Times . Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  2. ↑ Mitchell W. Block: Radio Bikini. Sundance Institute, accessed February 17, 2015 .
  3. ^ The 60th Academy Awards 1988. Winners & Nominees. oscars.org, accessed February 17, 2015 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g Wolf-Dieter Roth: Radio Bikini. Heise , June 21, 2005, accessed February 17, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Mitchell W. Block: Radio Bikini. Sundance Institute, 1988, accessed on February 17, 2015 (English): "This moving and powerful film [...]"
  6. ^ Leonard Klady: Movie Review. 'Radio Bikini': Documentary With Fallout. Los Angeles Times , March 12, 1988, accessed on February 17, 2015 (English): “[…] an outstanding achievement on all levels […] an extraordinarily perceptive, haunting and informative documentary […] It presents itself with quiet conviction but its underlying passion burns in our minds and souls. "
  7. ↑ Radio Bikini. Robert Stone Productions, accessed on February 17, 2015 (English): “[…] a terrific documentary […] brilliantly edited. What is so wonderful and tragic about this film are its real-life Dr. Strangelove-like ironies. "
  8. ↑ Radio Bikini. Robert Stone Productions, accessed on February 17, 2015 (English): "[...] a remarkable documentary collage [...] The awesome beauty of the explosions - not even Busby Berkeley could have managed it better."
  9. ↑ Awards. Radio Bikini (1988). Internet Movie Database , accessed February 17, 2015 .