Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer was a fascinatingly complex and contradictory man in the history of the world and, specifically, the history of World War II and the aftermath. He was a brilliant man who had the capability to see the world in a way few could comprehend but could be oblivious to what was right in front of him. His views of the world came at a time when having certain views could potentially cost you your freedom. It could definitely cost you your position in government security. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is about both sides of this man, focusing on his greatest achievement while also highlighting his biggest downfall. This is perhaps Nolan’s most mature film to date and is a tremendous showcase of artistic style in support of substance.

The film opens with Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) attending The University of Cambridge in 1926. He clashes with his instructor and, while battling anxiety and homesickness, leaves a poisoned apple on his instructor’s desk. He changes his mind and returns to retrieve the apple and has a chance encounter with a visiting scientist, Niels Bohr (Kenneth Branagh), who, impressed by Oppenheimer’s questions during Bohr’s lecture earlier that day, encourages him to study theoretical physics at the University of Göttingen. Oppenheimer, wanting to expand quantum physics research in the US, completes his PHD and gets a job teaching at the University of California, Berkeley and the California Institute of Technology. He marries Katherine Puening (Emily Blunt) while maintaining an intimate relationship with Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh), a physicist he met at a communist gathering who later dies ostensibly from suicide.

In 1938 the Germans succeed in splitting the atom and nuclear fission is discovered. With this discovery, Oppenheimer realizes it could be weaponized. Four years later US Army Colonel Leslie Groves (Matt Damon), the head of the Manhattan Project, recruits Oppenheimer as director of a project to build an atomic bomb to be used against the Germans and end the war. Oppenheimer accepts the position, fearing the Nazis developing a fission bomb. They set up camp in Los Alamos, New Mexico and assemble as many of the smartest scientists as they can get to try and beat Germany to the finish line with a fully functional atomic bomb. Early calculations suggest a remote possibility it could ignite the atmosphere and destroy the entire globe but further study convinces Oppenheimer that such a possibly is acceptably low. Meanwhile he is butting heads with fellow scientist Edward Teller (Benny Safdie), as well as others in the government who feel that there should be a greater focus on exploring the possibilities of building a hydrogen bomb instead, a device of much greater destructive power. 

Oppenheimer’s opposition to the idea of developing the hydrogen bomb, coupled with his feelings against the use of the atomic bomb once Germany was defeated and Japan was on the verge of surrender, earns him some enemies in high places. That, and his belief that nations should use these new weapons as a mutual deterrent to bring them together rather than as an offensive solution to conflict, tarnishes his reputation within certain powerful government leaders and sets the ball rolling for his downfall. One such leader, Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr), clashed strongly with Oppenheimer over the subject and would later use his influence on the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to strip the man of his clearance and reputation.

Director Christopher Nolan had made a name for himself as a director of genre films that were more heady than the average genre film of the time. Following his student film and directorial debut, he broke things open with the action mystery Memento, a film told in reverse order. This theme of time out of order would come back later in his 2020 effort Tenetand would play a small part with big consequences in Interstellar. He took on a comic book trilogy and elevated the concepts far above just a man in a costume beating up villains, crafting complex character motivations and innovative set pieces that other, more established action directors only wished they could accomplish. This experience inspired Nolan to insist on in camera effects over CGI as well as a refusal to film his movies on anything but real film. His love for the IMAX format would begun here, too, and, by the time he got to filming Oppenheimer, he would be using IMAX cameras extensibly. The resulting film, running a hefty three hours, was so heavy that it strained the IMAX projectors tasked with playing it. Still, the final results are obvious. This is a film begging for the biggest screen possible, something that seems strange for a film that’s not inundated with action set pieces and sweeping visuals around every corner. 

Cillian Murphy is a real eye opener in the title role of J. Robert Oppenheimer. The emotional range this actor has to convey to bring to life the enigmatic physicist is just staggering. He sells, in a single look directly at the screen, the world weariness of a man who has unleashed a danger into the world that may never be contained again. In that look we get his point of view. Like Prometheus who gave the world fire, Oppenheimer gave the world the ultimate fire. Early on he fears that the atomic explosion may cause a chain reaction that will destroy the world. Later he will believe that that, figuratively and literally, may still be the case. 

This is Christopher Nolan’s most straight forward film in quite some time. It doesn’t bounce around time or attempt to mask plot points behind a bunch of fancy editing tricks. It mostly plays out in linear fashion, relying on flashbacks only during testimony hearings during the investigations into Oppenheimer’s motivations that make up most of the final hour of the film. The one thing Nolan does do prominently is use sound and light to convey Oppenheimer’s state of mind. Occasionally there is a sound cue like that of marching soldiers that ascends to a cacophony. The camera exposure is turned up so that the image is washed out in intense light. The background shakes with the increasing rumble of the noise. This sound is later revealed to be the excited stomping of people attending a speech by Oppenheimer shortly after the dropping of the bombs on Japan and represents his emotional turmoil over what this invention has brought to innocent people. He sees in the audience visions of radiation sickness, burns and destruction and that stomping sound as they excitedly cheer him and his accomplishments comes to haunt him.

This is a complicated film; in some ways one of Nolan’s most complicated films because it examines the contradictory nature of humanity and of Oppenheimer himself. We see both sides of his personal conflict and understand his motivations, yet can’t always side with it. He has no problems with the idea of dropping the bomb on the Germans but is conflicted over the continued drive to utilize its possibilities once Germany surrenders. When brought to the White House to meet President Truman he expresses his fear of having blood on his hands only to be rebuffed and called a cry-baby. He loses everything over his views. The film paints him as a doom cryer that also shepherded in the method of that doom. It’s an interesting viewpoint that Nolan manages to convey without coming across as overtly preachy. But it is preachy to an extent. The themes are there right from the moment Oppenheimer poisons the apple through to when he tosses it in the trash. That singular moment in the first few minutes symbolizes what his whole moral dilemma will be. This theme, depicted in the opening moments, will be mirrored in a much more grave setting and will be outright stated in the closing moments with a brief, yet poignant, conversation with Albert Einstein. Oppenheimer considered himself to be a modern day Prometheus and, looking back at history, perhaps he was.

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture: Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan (won)

Best Director: Christopher Nolan (won)

Best Actor: Cillian Murphy (won)

Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr (won)

Best Supporting Actress: Emily Blunt

Best Adapted Screenplay: Christopher Nolan

Best Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema (won)

Best Costume Design: Ellen Mirojnick

Best Film Editing: Jennifer Lame (won)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Luisa Abel

Best Original Score: Ludwig Göransson (won)

Best Production Design: Ruth De Jong and Claire Kaufman

Best Sound: Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo and Kevin O’Connell

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Release Date: July 21, 2023

Running Time: 180 Minutes

Rated R

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek and Kenneth Branagh

Directed By: Christopher Nolan