“Oppenheimer”
4/5 ****
“Oppenheimer” is a 2023 film directed by Christopher Nolan and the other half of the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon that took place during the summer of 2023. An adaptation of the biography “American Prometheus” by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, the film shows the career of Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), the theoretical physicist who led the Manhattan Project to create the atomic bomb. Overall, the plot unfolds in two different perspectives. The first perspective is Oppenheimer himself, reliving his career during his 1954 hearing with the Personnel Security Board to review whether his security clearance should be reinstated. The second perspective is from Rear Admiral Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), a high-ranking member of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), while he was being reviewed to join President Eisenhower’s Cabinet in 1959. Nolan shows the different perspectives by having Oppenheimer’s be in color and Strauss’ in black and white.
When the film was released, there was much understandable controversy over the subject matter. Many people were concerned that the film justifies the creation of atomic weapons and portrays Oppenheimer in a positive light. Considering the well-known effects of nuclear energy and weapons from events such as the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, those criticisms are understandable. While I completely understand and see the arguments to the opposition, I personally see “Oppenheimer” as a film that shows why nuclear weapons are so dangerous and presents Oppenheimer as an extremely complex and flawed individual.
At the beginning, the film references Prometheus, who, according to ancient Greek myth, defied the gods and gave fire to the mortals. As punishment, he was chained to a rock to be eaten by vultures for eternity as punishment. Oppenheimer being depicted as a Prometheus-like-figure, gifting the world the knowledge of nuclear power only to crash and burn as a result, makes sense. After the creation and use of nuclear weapons on Japan, Oppenheimer expressed regret, telling President Harry Truman that he feels that he “[has] blood on [his] hands.” In the film, Truman calls Oppenheimer a “crybaby” right after that meeting; however, that comment was not said until about a year later. After the war, Oppenheimer used his position as the “Father of the Bomb” to try to restrict and ban nuclear weapons, only to be stripped of his credibility by the U.S. government.
Throughout the film, Oppenheimer references the line “I am become Death, destroyer of worlds” from the Bhagavad Gita. The Gita is a Hindu text which details the deity Krishna convincing the warrior Arjuna to do his duty and fight. Krishna says the famous line, telling Arjuna to put his faith in the divine. In Oppenheimer’s case, he had to put his faith in his leaders to use such a powerful weapon wisely. In the end, however, Oppenheimer felt that his faith had been misplaced.
It is important to note that at the start, Oppenheimer was not originally opposed to the creation of an atomic weapon. Oppenheimer, being a Jewish man, led the Manhattan Project partially so that he could take part in building a bomb that would defeat Nazi Germany. However, since the Nazis surrendered before the bomb could be tested, the target was shifted to the still-fighting Japan. After Germany’s surrender, Oppenheimer insists that the bomb should be finished anyway and does not have a strong opinion either way on whether such weapons should be used. It is not until afterwards, when he sees the effects of nuclear weapons, that he realizes the danger and impact of them. After the war, he advocated for stifling the nuclear arms race that began around the world and argued against the creation of “the Super,” citing the number of casualties such a weapon would cause as one of the reasons.
The most powerful scene in the film, and the scene that solidified for me that this film was a warning against the power of nuclear weapons, is the very last scene. At the beginning of the film, Oppenheimer is shown speaking to Albert Einstein (Tom Conti), but the subject matter is unclear. At the end, it is revealed that he was talking to Einstein about the fear that a nuclear bomb would start an unstoppable chain reaction that would destroy the atmosphere, essentially destroying the entire world. Before cutting to scenes of the nuclear arms race, Oppenheimer says to Einstein, “I believe we did.”
Overall, I see “Oppenheimer” as a film that shows the so-called “Father of the Bomb” in a way that expresses both his strengths and his weaknesses. J. Robert Oppenheimer was an extremely complicated person, being both the man who led the way to the world obtaining nuclear weapons and a man who tried to support scientists fleeing Nazi Germany. As much as I understand why a film that focuses on such a person would rub people the wrong way, I feel that attempting to humanize such a man is the best we can do with historical figures. However, that is only my opinion. I do encourage everyone to watch the film and read up on Oppenheimer himself so people can come to their own conclusions.