The Atomic Café

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
German title The Atomic Café
Original title The Atomic Café
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1982
length 88 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Jayne Loader
Kevin Rafferty
Pierce Rafferty
script Jayne Loader
Kevin Rafferty
Pierce Rafferty
music Rick Eaker
Richard Bass
David Dunaway
Charles Wolfe
cut Jayne Loader
Kevin Rafferty

The Atomic Café ( Engl. :, The atomic cafe ') is a in 1982 in the United States by the Director team Jayne Loader and Kevin and Pierce Rafferty authored documentary about the public perception and public presentation of the atomic bomb in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s Years.

action

The film is a collage of a wide variety of footage from educational, advertising and propaganda films as well as news programs from the decade and a half after it was first dropped over Hiroshima . Atomic bomb tests and programs, the Trinity test and the Bikini Atoll are discussed, as are interviews with observers and participants in various atomic bomb tests that describe the aesthetic beauty of the mushroom cloud . The losses suffered by soldiers during such tests or by the population of South Seas states as a result of changes in wind directions, for example, are trivialized and trivialized. It is about instructions for building a nuclear bunker yourself , about protective measures and emergency exercises. For example, excerpts from the educational film Duck and Cover are shown in which it is recommended to hide under the table to protect yourself from an atomic lightning bolt or to hold the newspaper in front of your eyes.

The Cold War and the equipment of the Soviet Union with the atomic bomb led to the development of the hydrogen bomb . In connection with the Korean War , the media, politics and the population discussed specifically whether an atomic bomb should be used.

In contrast, the topic has been popularized again and again . Various pop songs , cocktails ( Atomic Cocktails ) and cafés were created that related to this.

Shown people

The following people are featured in excerpts from speeches, interviews and news reports: Lloyd Bentsen , WHP Blandy , Owen Brewster , Frank Gallop , Lyndon Johnson , Maurice Joyce , Nikita Khrushchev , Brien McMahon , Seymour Melman , George Molan , Richard Nixon , Val Peterson , George Portell , George Putnam , Ethel Rosenberg , Julius Rosenberg , Mario Salvadori , Lewis Strauss , Paul Tibbets , Harry S. Truman , James E. Van Zandt .

effect

The film achieves its critical effect through the montage of different film excerpts, through which the skilful to irresponsible trivialization of the atomic problem is exposed and the description of the dangers posed by ionizing radiation , which from today's perspective appears naive . In addition, the euphoric enthusiasm for nuclear energy that prevails in large parts of the North American population is shown, because of which a critical public discussion of the serious risks did not take place.

In addition, the great attention paid to The Atomic Café can be explained by its publication date in 1982, as it fell in the middle of the discussion about the armament in Western Europe with American medium-range missiles planned as part of the NATO double resolution .

Awards

Others

The club " The Atomic Café " (1997-2014) in Munich was named after the film and was designed in the style of Googie .

Web links