The bombing of Hiroshima as seen through the eyes of a boy

Powerful and tragic, Barefoot Gen is the autobiographical story of manga artist Keiji Nakazawa who was six years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on his hometown of Hiroshima on August 6th 1945, killing most of his family. Sixty years on, Barefoot Gen is a haunting reminder of the suffering that war brings to innocent people and Gen's experiences will speak to children and adults everywhere. Drawing on his horrific past, Nakazawa created Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot Gen) in 1972, and it became one of the first mangas ever to be translated into English.Mori Masaki directs this animated film which was made in 1983 and was written and produced by Nakazawa based on his influential manga.Opening in the rundown city of Hiroshima, we witness the events leading up to the bombing through the eyes of Gen, a young boy growing up in post-war Japan. Fortunately when the bomb detonates, Gen is shielded by a stone wall. As he runs home, he sees victims of the bomb blast staggering around shocked and helpless in the rubble. When Gen reaches home he finds that his house has collapsed, trapping his father, brother and sister in the wreckage. What follows is a night-marish journey into the unimaginable horrors of atomic war.