The Atomic Cafe

One of the defining documentaries of the 20th century, THE ATOMIC CAFE (1982) offers a darkly humorous glimpse into mid-century America, an era rife with paranoia, anxiety, and misapprehension. Whimsical and yet razor-sharp, this timeless classic illuminates the often comic paradoxes of life in the "Atomic Age," while also exhibiting a genuine nostalgia for an earlier and more innocent nation.

Narrated through an astonishing array of vintage clips and music--from military training films to campy advertisements, presidential speeches to pop songs--the film revolves around the threat--and thrill--of the newly minted atomic bomb. Taking aim at the propaganda and false optimism of the 1950s, the film's satire shines most vividly in the clever image splicing, such as footage of a decimated Hiroshima alongside cheerful suburban "duck-and-cover" routines. More than anything else, THE ATOMIC CAFE shows how nuclear warfare infiltrated the living rooms of America, changing the nation from the inside out.

Immensely entertaining and devilishly witty, THE ATOMIC CAFE serves up a revealing slice of American history: the legendary decade when we learned to live in a nuclear world.

Category:

• Documentary

Tags:

• Cold war
• nuclear warfare
• attacks
• paranoia
• propaganda
• atomic bomb
• radiation
• duck and cover
• Burt the turtle
• Hiroshima
• Nagasaki
• black humor
• dark comedy
• documentary
• 1940s
• 1950s
• newsreel
• archival film
• military training
• disarmament
• cult classic
• nuclear Reefer Madness
• bomb shelters

[iamlawrencebricher]

Hi! If you're reading the comments page, don't. Literally, you could probably count the people who thought before they wrote on one hand.

[swmdal]

"If there's an explosion, we'll wait about a minute, then I'll go outside and see if it's OK for us to clean up."

Seriously?

[bladada1200]

how is this piece called near the end before they are dropping the bomb?

[hejdiklump]

what a brainwashing bitches,,wtf!!!!!

hell nooo

[hejdiklump]

l!!look what they done to those people,,,,fuck off,,USA...making fun of other world nations,,,nothing else you can't do?,,,retard aristocratic rats

[hejdiklump]

assbitches



[rokas389]

wery old story about world mistakes..

[holyshomly]

oh the insanity of it all...lol...we are so doomed! Goofy bastards.

[st1dinoh]

@AmonBlack Do you know anything about WWII aside from anti-american propaganda revisionist history?

Our troops were headed to japan to begin a retaliatory island hopping warfare resulting in the death of hundreds of thousands of our troops and the probable extermination of most of japan.

if i had been "born a Japanese" my comment would probably be something like "i wish my country wasn't stupid enough to launch a cowardly sneak attack at pearl harbor resulting in our defeat via nukes"

[AmonBlack]

1:09:14 hahaha owned

[AmonBlack]

@st1dinoh Quote:

"Fortunately for all, those bombs forced the early surrender saving tens of thousands of American troops, and hundreds of thousands of Japanese who would have been slowly slaughtered to end the war."

So the Americans decided to kill 80,000 Japanese civilians and destroy 2 cities completely just to save the ammo, right?

Some people's logic really amaze me... i wonder what will be your comment if you was born a Japanese.

[bakiguher]

so sad.

watching little children "duck and cover" makes me cry.