According to Entertainment Weekly and the Associated Press, the film “Hereafter” has been pulled from theaters in Japan this week. The reasoning behind it is due to one very excruciating sequence.
In the film, a horrific re-enactment of the 2004 tsunami that hit Indonesia takes place. The scene was considered too traumatic in light of the recent earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan Friday.
Satoru Otani, an official for Warner Entertainment Japan Inc., stated the tsunami portion of the film were “not appropriate” for audiences in light of the destruction caused by the natural disaster.
The film “Hereafter”, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Matt Damon, Cécile De France, and Bryce Dallas Howard, tells the story of how three unconnected people were affected by death in different ways. The film is also meant to be a bit of a study on the possibility of the afterlife. “Hereafter” opened in Japan late February, according to AP. The film was expected to show in Japan through late March.
This is not the first time scenes from a movie were cause for censorship due to disaster; in 2002, a section of “Spider-Man”, showing a huge web between New York’s Twin Towers, was taken out of the film due to sensitivity surrounding the events of 9/11.
