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Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Theo Robertson THE ATOMIC CAFE is one of those few rare documentaries that doesn't have a narrator or a framing figure . All it consists of are clips in a chronological order of the history of the atomic bomb and of the early stages of the geo-political situation of what became known as " The Cold War " which was the direct result of the bomb . There's two ways of looking at this . One is the subject matter is a little bit dry and absurd and the second point of view of view is that the audience are allowed to make up there own mind and it's somewhat refreshing to see a documentary that doesn't involve someone bludgeoning the audience over the head while sticking their opinions down their throat in a painfully smug and snide manner . You can tell this wasn't made by Michael Moore One wonders what life was like in a pre-nuclear age ? I remember the cold war in the 1980s and the paranoia of that era was chilling , so much so that for people of my generation still refer to the 1984 BBC docu-drama THREADS as the most terrifying thing they have ever seen . That said it could also be argued that if it wasn't for the bomb then a conventional war that would have surpassed the death toll of the second world war might have broken out between 1945 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 . Reagen in The White House and Brezhnev in the Kremlin ? Not really a recipe for peace and the fact that nuclear weapons are so terrible to contemplate probably focused the minds of world leadersBeing an American documentary all the clips are from an American point of view with an exception of a clip that's almost certainly from an early edition of PANORAMA from the BBC . This is a pity because I would liked to have seen what sort of propaganda if any the USSR was producing at the same time . That said the old cliché of " Americans don't understand irony " is evident as someone praises the virtues of American freedom " because we have shopping malls that are full of food and clothes and most families can afford cars " . I think someone is confusing system of government with economics .As I write this in 2014 China has shopping malls full of food and clothes and the Chinese people can afford to drive cars . The difference is there's no democratic system of government in China so democracy and capitalism are not the one and the same thing , but I guess that clip is to illustrate the inherent absurdity of propaganda ? Likewise we get clips of real life footage of American servicemen being used to test the effects of being caught in an atomic blast " There's nothing to worry about " and of relaxing should your city be caught up in a nuclear war . Did someone say " Absurd ? " One very interesting point that is often talked about by the CND mob is in relation to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as in " Why didn't the Americans drop the bombs in a remote unpopulated area of Japan to force their surrender ? " I've often thought that myself and am unable to give a counter argument to that question . Here we see an interview with Paul Tibbets the pilot who dropped the bomb on Hiroshima who goes in to some detail - it's because these cities were untouched by arial bombing and the American government wanted to study the effects on a bombed city after the war had ended . Some people might think this is amoral or cruelly cynical but you can make up your own mind as to morality during wartime and THE ATOMIC CAFE does allow the audience to think for themselves no matter what the opinions of this documentary's producers are . In that respect it's very refreshing

jzappa Compilation films rest somewhere flanked by documentary and experimental, comprised entirely of newsreels, training films, home movies and other archive footage. The general intent is to displace archive materials from their initial circumstances so as to redefine what they show, which frequently trusts the logical overlap between the inborn standpoint of the initial excerpts and its revolutionary reprocessing, a bringing of political character to concealed connotations. The result is what many consider a black comedy, but the humor is largely incidental, Much of it coming from we the modern audience's reaction to the footage from decades ago, not to mention the use of obviously party-line songs from the time to complement the ideas on screen.This scandalous, sobering and shrewd work of "compilation verite" is directed, or edited rather, by Jamie Loader and Kevin and Pierce Rafferty, and is a dark lampoon of the disturbing propaganda bounding the government's attainment, enhancement and trial of both the atomic and hydrogen bombs. The film is an craftily marshaled patchwork of authorized madness, hauled from a wide-ranging collection of propaganda films initially made to placate the American people by deflating the ramifications of nuclear consequences.Despite the independent and tutorial intentions behind such government films as The Magic of the Atom, other films like Duck and Cover were made to comfort the people that they could be protected in a nuclear holocaust, that the resilient and prepared would endure. Some of the most tragic scenes in the movie watch grade- and high-school kids taking part in civil defense programs. Girls in home ec show their canned goods intended for post-nuclear survival, and it's plain on their faces that they've no inkling of how they'd endure nuclear war, and not much expectation of doing so. Kids are instructed by adults in shots from educational films, and it must scarcely have been comforting to hear about your "chances" in a nuclear war.By assembling all these archive resources the filmmakers take us on an excursion so despicable and mirthful that it'd only have been made feasible via misinformation. This half-decade collaborative effort from the three directors opens with the atomic explosion that consummates the Trinity Test, and which paves the road for the bombs released over Japan. The film interlaces transitions without the aid of any voice-over narration. Instead, it adjusts in and out of radios and TV programs, poetically mingling events together through associative cutting. One such edit cuts from what seems like a Navy periscope lens to the square tube of a television screen in an American home. The correlation incites us to ponder the impression of being watched, subconsciously underlining the filmmaker's observation that those in control cannot be believed. Such edits take the audience through the crucial moments and scenes that shape the increasing phobia of communism, reaching a pinnacle with the start of the Korean War, and Truman's warning he'll use the atomic bomb afresh.The annotations of a cartoon clip illustrating a small man being enveloped by mixed hands maintains when people are mystified they'll heed any voice that can identify their problem and advise a treatment. What seems like an induction of communism seamlessly transitions into footage of Eisenhower being elected into office. The suggestion that America is governed by totalitarians is involved when Eisenhower's speech about America's godly wealth coincides with a montage showing the growth of consumerism from tube tooth-paste to TV dinners. This inspired sequence fittingly frames the United States' whole case for the atomic bomb as its single defense against a Soviet menace to fries and hamburgers.As in Stone's JFK, Eisenhower again cautions the people about the relocation of power from the simple, modest musket and canon all the way to the hydrogen bomb in one life span, apparently contending how the developments in science have surpassed the sensory and scholarly aptitude of most Americans. However spoken certainties feel vulnerable to the far-reaching bombardment of visual propaganda this cult classic hurls at us. This just shows the film's genius for discarding academic "certainty" to emphasize the incongruity and skepticism needed to manufacture "counter-propaganda", evading "filters" with the purpose of taking on beliefs.The candid or verite moments the film shows partiality towards are hinted by the insertion of such upfront moments as Truman caught smiling before the news cameras before giving a grim address about the A-bomb. Such flickers of reality or moments caught live, like footage showing the trouble a man has saying "stethoscope" while reporting Ethel Rosenberg's execution, are conflicting with the impression of government as a foolproof establishment impervious to censure.Maybe the film's declining the people any facets besides the truth of their unwariness is more connected with The Atomic Café's deduction of the public from its philosophical recipe. But to justify the filmmakers, one must understand that the distress of the materials they've assembled occupies the concern and standing of the atomic bomb itself, which, unlike other civic matters, has turned a 180 in the last 50 years.By amassing misinformation or fabrications renouncing the truth of nuclear war, this, one of the most incisive, embittered and horrifying looks at propaganda, McCarthyism, American paranoia or the self-induced threat of annihilation, exposes our deficiency of challenge to the apprehension produced by political propaganda and the party-line discord that followed. Whether Americans of the era didn't have the capability to challenge or rebuff this propaganda is a contentious fact.

johnstonjames there are many famous and great documentaries, 'Harlan County', 'Taxi To The Darkside',etc, that inform us and provide us with valuable knowledge into events and help to deeply impact our thinking. 'Atomic Cafe' isn't that kind of documentary. It doesn't really tell us anything we don't know or provide us with information that isn't already out there. what it is, however, is one of the most entertaining and clever documentaries you could possibly imagine. one IMDb reviewer, who is also a filmmaker, even went as far as to say he liked this better than his own documentary.it's really something when you can take a subject like this and make it into a thing that is screamingly funny, enjoyable fun, without seeming ironically morbid in the process. the film never leaves you with a sour, bitter taste, but with a sense of awe and amusement at the messy predicament mankind has gotten into. everything about it is fascinating, and dare i say, even a little magical. not the bomb necessarily, but just the way the film puts things into it's clever, fun perspective. the film takes a negative subject and turns it into something that is good and cathartic for the viewer. instead of feeling depressed or negative after the film, a viewer is probably more likely to feel strangely elated,empowered, and a bit braver when facing world crisis. i'm not saying we should just laugh at everything bad, but a little humor always helps.the film is done without the help of any kind of narration which leaves the viewer free to make their own conclusions and decide their own feelings on the subject. not that it isn't skillfully done. the montages are excellent, especially the final montage which is timed to Mussorgsky's 'Pictures At An Exhibition'.this is a documentary everyone should see. it helps you cope with the idea of a "bomb"(or bombs), and helps you laugh at the things that seem like mankind's darkest hour. note: this makes a great double feature viewing with either 'Dr. Stangelove' or '5,000 Fingers of Dr.T'.

jnoll-2 I would not "highly" recommend seeing this film. Not because it does not tell the truth about this era in our history, but because of the mash-up production quality of the film. It is a low budget, poorly produced film. There are parts of the film that make no sense whatsoever and it is hard to determine the point the film makers are trying to convey.This film is not for the weak hearted as there are scenes of those who died as a result of nuclear effects and scenes of people just after the blast with severe burns on their body, which is gory to say the least. Parental guidance is STRONGLY advised for anyone under 13 years of age.On a brighter note, the film does a fairly good expose' of the "downplaying" of the eminent danger in the wake of a pending nuclear attack. There are a few moments of hilarious scenes which don't relate very well in our post modern culture. Other times there is a "I'm sure there going to do that, like really, get out..." I gave this film a 5 only because of the fact it could have been cut together a LOT better and the production staff could have scripted it better and done a better job of compiling a more directed approach and delivering a message to the audience. I still don't know what they were trying to "say". It almost looks like a bunch of home movies strung together.