OPPENHEIMER : One who stole the power of the gods

Welcome to our in-depth review of the movie “Oppenheimer”, released on July 21, 2023.

INTRODUCTION

Based on the 2005 biography “American Prometheus” by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, the film “Oppenheimer'' is a biographical drama directed by one of the most prominent filmmakers of the 21st century, Christopher Nolan. It is based on the life of the atomic physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb and the man credited to have brought quantum physics to America. Nolan found his lead in Cillian Murphy, his old accomplice who previously featured in many of his projects, and the supporting cast included many renowned names like Robert Downey Junior, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Tom Conti, Kenneth Branagh, Rami Malek and many others.

PLOT SUMMARY 

Nolan switches between 2 separate depositions as the narrative tool- one post WWII and the other post cold war. The film progresses in the signature non-linear fashion and unfolds its story starting from his early days in Europe, where he was appreciated for his insight but criticized for his laboratory work. He encounters several renowned scientists, namely Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg and Max Borne, and feels the need to move back to the US, being the bannerman of quantum physics. He then works alongside the laboratory of Dr. Lawrence at Berkeley. On listening to the news of the uranium atom split, it occurs to him that the world is now on track of making an atom bomb- a weapon of limitless destruction. He is then sought out by General Groves for the Manhattan project and they together facilitate the research at Los Alamos. He puts the US on the top of the world by wielding the first atomic bomb the world has ever seen. It troubles him that a scientific pinnacle could be a weapon of mass destruction. The US uses the bomb on Japan and he becomes paranoid and drenched in guilt. He is contacted by Lewis Strauss about becoming the chairperson of AEC, and further on he opposes the idea of building a hydrogen bomb, causing a whole lot of political drama. The hero is reduced to a patriot and he feels the need to face it head on because of remorse.

ACTING

•     Cillian Murphy perfectly embodies Oppie, a man who is not just a genius but also a radical thinker. The co-actors on various occasions acknowledged the remarkable commitment of Cillian towards his character, be it his strict diet for getting into the skin of a guy who washed down the burden of his political and scientific genius with cigarettes and liquor or imitating his genius by trying to learn 30000 words of Dutch over a weekend.

•  The performances of the supporting actors are the pillars of strength which hold the film together, with not even a single performance falling short of the extraordinary status.

• RDJ delivers a surprisingly impactful performance by Lewis Strauss, a self-made person of honor who doesn’t like his authority to be questioned. You are gonna love him for playing this one.

• Matt Damon plays General Groves, the coordinator of the famous Manhattan Project who appoints Oppenheimer as the Director of the same. They together operated at Los Alamos, the birthplace of the atomic bomb, and made the trinity           possible. With his physique, he makes for the best firm military man.

• Emily Blunt makes for the perfect Kittie, Oppie’s wife, a former communist who has had marriage troubles. She is a woman who knows when to be assertive and witty and is the perfect support system for Oppie.

•    Florence Pugh portrays Jean Tatlock, a well-known communist Oppie is fond of and cares for even after his marriage to Kitty. No one could have pulled it off better than her.

•  Some of the best scenes of the movie come from the interactions between Oppie         and Albert Einstein (Tom Conti), whom Oppie referred to as the person who opened the doors to something new but never embraced what it offered.

SCREENPLAY

The screenplay authored by Nolan is very compelling and deeply engaging, it can be crowned as his best till date and also the component which makes it the masterpiece it truly is. The screenplay coupled with the cast, manages to leave the audience awe-struck as it brings about the best from the actors.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

The cinematography in Oppenheimer is incredibly well-done and adds an extra layer of depth to the already powerful story by transporting viewers to the 1940s with great attention to detail and beautiful landscapes. The film’s cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema has painstakingly crafted every frame, whether it’s aerial shots of the Nevada desert and the town of Los Alamos, two lovers having a conversation in a dark hotel room, the explosion of bombs.

The scene where the filmmakers completely left the audience awestruck is the one right after when “the father of the atomic bomb” has to address a crowd cheering the attacks on Japan, showing cacophony inside Oppenheimer’s head when the repercussions of his research become too much for him to handle.

The film alternates between luminous colour and vivid black-and-white showing and the events that led to its creation and the aftermath of the bomb's detonation. Overall, Nolan masterfully crafts anticipation with each passing scene delighting the audience with visually stunning        cinematography.

ORIGINAL SCORE

Nolan and van Hoytema’s visuals are always impressive, but it’s Göransson’s score that takes    Oppenheimer to another level. Oppenheimer’s gorgeously relentless score seamlessly intertwines with the narrative, accentuating emotional beats and intensifying the adrenaline-pumping moments, knowing exactly when to pull back, or when to provoke the audience. The absolute silence preceding the delayed blast is a bold and risky choice. It allows the audience to fully absorb and experience the magnitude of the trinity test.

TECHNICAL REVIEW

Nolan’s reputation for making complex non-linear thrillers precedes him, and he manages to deliver a biopic of this grandeur in his own nerve-wrecking and unique style. This ambitious project expands beyond the domains of a simple biography and infiltrates the grounds of a thriller as it incorporates various aspects of Oppie’s life- genius, thinker, womanizer, “greatest  salesman of science”, husband, friend, left wing politics, guilt etc. with the master screenplay, acting, cinematography and direction. 

Oppenheimer is filmed in a combination of IMAX 65mm and 65mm large-format film photography including, for the first time ever, sections in IMAX black and white analogue photography. All the technical feats are well executed. One of the best parts is the artistic visuals used to convey the psychological distress faced by Oppenheimer during the Manhattan Project. Sound design and score also play a remarkable role in building tension to enhance the key moments in the film.

 

QUOTES

●      “Selfish Awful People Don’t Know They’re Selfish Awful People.”
-               Haakon Chevalier

Robert Oppenheimer was indeed a brilliant scientist, but was not exactly a faithful husband or partner or a dedicated father though. When Kitty cannot stand raising their child alone and Oppenheimer knew he wouldn’t be much of a help,he brought his child to his friend Haakon. It’s a moment of weakness for him, but Haakon reassures Robert that he isn’t a bad person.

●      "You Don't Get To Commit The Sin and then make us feel bad for you that it had consequences”

-        Kitty Oppenheimer

When kitty got to know that her husband cheated on her with the now-deceased Jean Tatlock, she was overwhelmed with emotions. But she fired back and reminded Oppenheimer that he knew the consequences of his actions. Kitty's words resonate throughout history, as there will always be a debate about whether Oppenheimer really deserves sympathy for his actions or not.

●           "Now I Am Become Death, The Destroyer Of Worlds."
-    J. Robert Oppenheimer

When the trinity test became successful, Oppenheimer revealed that he recalled a Hindu scripture, in which the god Vishnu says "Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.” This line from Hindu scripture had the only words that seem able to capture what he and the other geniuses had the Manhattan Project have created. Even though it speaks of awful ruin, godly power and endless glory in the same breath, it also suggests Oppenheimer’s own moral confusion.

●           "They won't fear it until they understand it. And they won't understand it until they've used it."

-    J. Robert Oppenheimer

While speaking about his infamous creation, Oppenheimer reveals that the bomb must be used in order for the world to truly understand its power. He expected the world to fear nuclear weapon after it was unleashed on Japan, and hoped that governments would lay aside such weapons. But the opposite of that happened and it started a blind race amongst countries to develop more deadly weapons that he feared would lead to a nuclear holocaust .

•   “When I came to you with those calculations, we thought we might start a chain reaction that would destroy the entire world. I believe we did.”

-    J. Robert Oppenheimer

In the final scene, the conversation between Oppenheimer and Einstein was revealed which had nothing to do with Strauss, but rather they were having an exchange about the bombs' impact on the world. He feared that they scientifically might not have created a catastrophic chain reaction, but they had started a nuclear arms race that would bring about the destruction of all humanity

 

Rating : ★★★★★★★★★ (9/10)