The Forgotten Force

Apr 4, 1994

0h 56m

★ 6.0

Tells the story of Australia's role as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in the occupation of Japan

Overview

After the atomic obliteration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, over 36,000 Australian men and women, part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF), marched onto Japanese soil. They were assigned the toughest and most dangerous area of Japan: Hiroshima Prefecture, which included the atom-bombed city. The Forgotten Force tells for the first time the story of Australia's role in Japan. Rare archival and private footage, photographs and eyewitness accounts from both sides vividly recreate the atmosphere of post-war Japan - the horror of Hiroshima and its aftermath; the struggle to build a new "democratic" society while under the heel of military rule; the growth from suspicion and fear to friendship and trust between foes.

Genres

Documentary

History

War

Production Companies

Film Australia

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Japan Foundation

The Forgotten Force Trailers

Cast

Narrator

Hugo Weaving

In 150 years, twice marked by total destruction —a terrible earthquake in 1923 and incendiary bombings in 1945— followed by a spectacular rebirth, Tokyo, the old city of Edo, has become the largest and most futuristic capital in the world in a transformation process fueled by the exceptional resilience of its inhabitants, and nourished by a unique phenomenon of cultural hybridization.

7.7

Hiroshima Mon Amour

Jun 10, 1959

The deep conversation between a Japanese architect and a French actress forms the basis of this celebrated French film, considered one of the vanguard productions of the French New Wave. Set in Hiroshima after the end of World War II, the couple -- lovers turned friends -- recount, over many hours, previous romances and life experiences. The two intertwine their stories about the past with pondering the devastation wrought by the atomic bomb dropped on the city.

7.4

Hiroshima

Oct 7, 1953

Historical fiction about the aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, on 6 August 1945, and its effects on various civilians, especially children, of that city.

7.7

Twice: The Extraordinary Life of Tsutomu Yamaguchi

Jan 5, 2010

Tsutomu Yamaguchi is a hibakusha. A survivor of both atomic bomb blasts in 1945. First at Hiroshima, then again at Nagasaki. Now nearing 90, Yamaguchi finally speaks out. Breaking taboos of shame and sorrow, he responds to a call to fight for a world without nuclear weapons by telling his story, so that no one else will ever have to tell one like it again. Twice reconstructs Yamaguchi’s experiences in 1945 Japan, interviews him on the after-effects of exposure and documents the last five years of the late-blooming activist’s life.

0.0

Pure-Hearted Unit

Jan 15, 1957

A story of young people in the immediate aftermath of World War II, their post-war careers, sorrows, and triumphs.

7.5

Barefoot Gen

Jul 21, 1983

A story about the effect of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on a boy's life and the lives of the Japanese people.

6.5

Barefoot Gen 2

Jun 14, 1986

Three years after the Hiroshima bombing, a teenager helps a group of orphans to survive and find their new life.

7.0

Three Stripes in the Sun

Nov 23, 1955

A racist sergeant stationed in post-war Japan finds himself softening towards the children and falling for a local woman.

5.0

Pride

May 23, 1998

Based on the International Military Tribunal for the Far East of 1946–48, depicts Japanese prime minister Hideki Tojo as a family man who fought to defend Japan and Asia from western colonialism but was ultimately hanged by a vengeful United States.

8.2

Atomic People

Jun 13, 2024

Combining personal accounts with archive footage, this film features the voices of some of the only people left on earth to have survived a nuclear bomb.

7.2

Hiroshima

Aug 6, 2005

The documentary recounts the world's first nuclear attack and examines the alarming repercussions. Covering a three-week period from the Trinity test to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the program chronicles America's political gamble and the planning for the momentous event. Archival film, dramatizations, and special effects feature what occurred aboard the Enola Gay (the aircraft that dropped the bomb) and inside the exploding bomb.

7.0

Hiroshima, the next day

Dec 1, 2011

No overview available.

0.0

Atomic Wounds

Jan 1, 2006

At 89, Doctor Hida, a survivor of the 1945 atomic bomb at Hiroshima, continues to care for some of the other quarter of a million survivors. Atomic Wounds retraces his dedicated journey and highlights how the terrible danger of radiation was concealed by successive American administrations in the 50's - 70's so that nuclear power could be freely developed, with no concern for public health.

7.4

200,000 Phantoms

Jul 11, 2007

In 1914, the Czech architect Jan Letzel designed in the Japanese city of Hiroshima Center for the World Expo, which has turned into ruins after the atomic bombing in August 1945. “Atomic Dome” – all that remains of the destroyed palace of the exhibition – has become part of the Hiroshima memorial. In 2007, French sculptor, painter and film director Jean-Gabriel Périot assembled this cinematic collage from hundreds of multi-format, color and black and white photographs of different years’ of “Genbaku Dome”.

6.1

The Beginning or the End

Feb 19, 1947

The research, development, and deployment of the first atomic bomb, as well as the bombing of Hiroshima, are detailed in this docudrama.

3.5

Girls in Summer Dresses: Hiroshima, August 6, 1945

Aug 7, 1988

In 1945, the second- and third-year students of a Hiroshima girls' school are taken away to work in war factories. The remaining 220 girls of the first year try to make the best of their new-found status as the only teenagers in an almost deserted town, even amid the deprivations of wartime. On the seventh of August, an American bomber changes their lives forever. Broadcast on the 43rd anniversary of Hiroshima in memory of "the girls who lost their lives to the atom bomb." (Source: Anime Encyclopedia)

7.0

Procès de Tokyo, le Nuremberg oublié

Aug 5, 2025

No overview available.

0.0

Spirit of Hiroshima

Jan 1, 1996

Through the daily life of a Japanese family living in the Hiroshima of the nineties, this documentary uses valuable testimonies to reflect on how these people continue to overcome the atomic bombing of 1945.

The Forgotten Force

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

The Forgotten Force Trailers