Film Forum

The indie hit that recalls the post-war hysteria about the bomb: a witty, scarifying collage of TV, educational, military, and movie footage from the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s. Gloriously restored in 4K by IndieCollect.

Reviews

“Beautifully restored. Feels suddenly, enragingly relevant again. Back to remind us how f---ed we truly are, and perhaps have always been. Bitterly funny.”
– Bilge Ebiri, Village Voice

“An artfully assembled collage of official insanity.”
– David Ansen, Newsweek

“A carnival of folly, a pop-culture distorting mirror of the nuclear age.
– David Denby, New York Magazine

“A powerful reminder of the lunatic forces at work in the world and of the perennial love affair between a guy and his warhead. A propaganda of propagandas. THE ATOMIC CAFE is a thoughtful suggestion to us all: that it might be pleasurable for us to continue breathing.”
– Barbara Kruger, ARTFORUM

“Fascinating. Composed of documentary and propaganda footage, all dealing with the subject of nuclear power during the Cold War. Alternately chilling, harrowing, and hilarious. Should be seen by everyone who cares about atomic power, the threat of nuclear war, the roots of American culture, of the pervasive effects of the images and ideas that blitz our minds every day through the mass media. It’s an explosive movie.”
– David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor

“VERY FUNNY. PACKS A WALLOP. A documentary natural that knocks you for a loop on three counts: it’s profoundly shocking, very funny and should be a lesson to all of us with respect to official propaganda.”
– Archer Winsten, New York Post

“A comic horror film. Gripping. The spirit of collage filmmaker Bruce Conner hovers over this project, which piles ironies upon metaphors until the mind boggles. Cunningly mixed and continually funny. (The film) does more to evoke the what-me-worry social madness of the Cold War than any documentary I’ve ever seen.”
– J. Hoberman, Village Voice