Inspiring and moving
This is a film about the 50 frontline engineers who were trapped at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant's main control room during the 2011 Tsunami and Nuclear Leak disaster. As the world were putting the blame on Japan for using Sea Water to cool the Reactors that led to unimaginable radiation to the Sea up to this day, this film tends to offer the audience who may be eager to know more the inside story and the human nature of personnel involved in the disaster. As the titular name suggests 'Fukushima 50', it depicts the story of the 50 engineers trapped in the disaster and struggling to keep the damaged Reactors from a culminating overheat meltdown, explosion and or imminent Nuclear leak to the entire East Japan and the surrounding Fukushima prefecture. That said, the film is not solely about the spectacles of the disaster and trying to vindicate Japan of any censure but rather a retrospect of the disaster. Director Setsuro Wakamatsu does a good job here by balancing everything well and not sensationalizing the situation. It exposes the flaws of various aspects including bureaucratic disruptions and oversight problems. However the Prime Minister's depiction in this film is comedic and i suspect it is the director's intention to mock the then-prime minister. The engineers involved in the situation are merely workers and are not responsible for the unexpected catastrophe. They are only workers under the Tokyo Electric Company responsible for everything including the wrong calculation of an emergency crisis situation. Their workers, led by Head Engineer Izaki, and his crew are only humans after all and did not abandon their posts but displayed heroic valor to try to contain the imminent annihilation and saved one another. It also showed the Japanese spirit of unity and rapport for one another and the community, displaying the unselfishness and even sacrificing one's own for the good of another. Overall the main actors (Izaki) performances are commendable and Ken Watanabe carries the film further with his nuances. The effects and aftermath are done well. Director Wakamatsu erects the scenes well, although if more budget would been allowed, we hope to see a little more of the calamitous threat of the Power Plant by the Tsunami. Even though the transition between the 2nd Act and the 3rd Act falls a little short of expectation i still laud the film fairly well done. No doubt everybody is disturbed that tonnes of radiation has leaked to the Sea but the film has acknowledged that the Japanese have underestimated the force of nature. I definitely support and advocate the right approach of Japan's clean energy concept as opposed to traditional coal power that pollutes the environment but this heavy lesson has taught us that Nuclear Plants should always be equipped with high contingency protection in the case of an unexpected event, especially in a country inherent with Earthquake risk.score 8/10
pzheihmer 4 September 2020
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw6060439/34926
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