Deterrence is always an interesting prevalence of change. Even in old experimental footage (as recently as sixty years ago) in context outside Russian and US interests there are always perspectives that go unnoticed. “Boomerang Atomic” is, of course, meant as a warning with damage already done. It follows the French looking to assert their own nuclear independence in the 1960s. As with most things there was a lack of understanding and knowledge which many times limits seeing impacts and short term goals versus long term effects. The French painstakingly chronicled what they were doing trying their best to be responsible in using part of the Sahara near Raggan as a testing ground. Their perception is that it was as close to Los Angeles as the test site in Nevada was with no full ill effects. Now in reason a lot of this was still being determined.
Now granted in the credits it almost seems like this was a court documentary before in a way. Right at the end is the only aspect that shows that the short doc's foregone conclusion is a matter of point. In the nearly 20 minute short there is an experiment near the end called Beryl which was done inside a mountain in a tunnel where a hole/vent was blown open. There is some footage where people are heard saying “this is bad” leading to said foregone conclusion. Similarly North Korea probably does the same thing but without comeuppance (which is wrong also). The film does show protests in New York and Paris and some responses on the street after the first test in Paris are telling but across the board in many ways as well. It is important to show aspects of one country taken out affect others. The French tests were moved to Polynesia but that same perspective holds true there in protecting the environment. The best aspect is to not test and use but that can't work in the modern world either. But the same thing can be said about AI and people are diving headfirst into that with consequences yet to be seen. 84%/B
By Tim Wassberg
