Thursday, October 4 | 5:30 pm
Saturday, October 6 | 8 pm
Armageddon has never been so darkly funny as in The Atomic Cafe. This 1982 cult classic juxtaposes Cold War history, propaganda, music and culture, seamlessly crafted from government-produced educational and training films, newsreels and advertisements. Taken together, these sources cheerily instruct the public on how to live in the Atomic Age, how to survive a nuclear attack (!) … and how to fight and win a nuclear war. As a U.S. Army training film advises, “Viewed from a safe distance, the atomic bomb is one of the most beautiful sights ever seen by man.” The Atomic Cafe, however, also doesn’t shy away from the truth of nuclear warfare as we briefly glimpse the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagaski in a series of moments that tear away from The Atomic Cafe‘s kitsch reveries. Museum Films is proud to present this landmark entry into the National Film Registry in a new 4K digital restoration.
Director Kevin Rafferty, Jayne Loader and Pierce Rafferty | 1982 | In English | 88 minutes | NR (contains some disturbing medical imagery) | DCP
