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).