Barefoot Gen

Synopsis

It is the summer of 1945, and three years have passed since the war between Japan and the United States began. Gen, a young boy, lives a difficult yet content life in Hiroshima, a city that has oddly remained untouched by the bombings that have ravaged nearly every other Japanese city. Food is scarce, and Gen's family is weakened by severe malnutrition, a condition that places his pregnant mother in danger. With little time to spare, Gen and his younger brother Shinji assist their parents with their work, doing all they can to help the family endure these hard times. Unbeknownst to them, the Americans have something planned for Hiroshima, and on August 6, 1945, their lives are about to be transformed forever.

Background

Hadashi no Gen won the Oufuji Noburou Award at the Mainichi Film Awards in 1983. The film was released on DVD as Barefoot Gen by Image Entertainment on April 27, 1999. Discotek Media remastered the film and published it on Blu-ray and DVD on December 26, 2017.