In the early hours of the 6th of August, 1945, a bomb was dropped on the unsuspecting citizens of a little-known city in Japan called Hiroshima. The citizens’ lives were devastated while the city itself went on become immortal in the annals of history. This bomb forever altered the balance of world power, reshaped geopolitics, and changed the way wars would be waged and treaties negotiated for years to come.
The movie ‘Oppenheimer’ is about the Father of the atomic bomb and chronicles his life. It also details the journey that its’ creators had to undertake and the ethical and moral conflict that the ‘success’ of the bomb created in its’ aftermath.
A young theoretical physicist with an almost eerie prescience about the power of the atom, J. Robert Oppenheimer was recruited in 1942 by the American Military to lead the team which would create a nuclear bomb. Born to Jewish immigrants from Germany, he was a Harvard graduate with a doctorate from Gottingen, Germany, and later worked as Professor at Berkeley. His close association and professional engagement with Heisenberg, Fermi, Teller, and Paulii who were some of the foremost scientific minds of that time was inspiring to him. Chain-smoking, garrulous, a genius with languages, and a natural charmer, he was also a serial philanderer.
At the same time, his natural intelligence made him question the social injustice and inequality that he saw around him and made him gravitate to Communism, and support the Communist Party in principle as well as financially. This association was to prove a drawback for him time and again in later years.
This was a time in America that was a precursor to McCarthyism, and when fear of Nazis alternated with disgust of Communism, the former due to its military aggressions and the latter due to its threat of social ‘change’. So, when a ‘secret letter’ signed by Einstein landed on American President Roosevelt’s desk warning that the Nazis were working on a nuclear bomb, the results were predictable. The United States at that time was determinedly neutral, but watching Hitler’s ambitious moves with an ‘eagle’s eye’. One of the most advanced powers in the world and the most industrialized and militarised, for the Americans the letter was predictably a spur to their collective machismo.
Work began almost immediately and funds poured in. Oppenheimer, after some initial doubts about his comparative youth and suspicion regarding his allegiance to America was assigned the task of spearheading the operation. The Manhattan Project was thus conceived and born in the Los Alamos desert of Mexico. A city sprang up almost overnight with scientists being recruited en masse and their entire families migrating to the desert city.
The frenetic pace of their work, the despair alternating with elation at each small success, the predictable conflicts between egos, the collective brilliance of the scientists as well as their sacrifices, the clash between men of science and their military masters is well-depicted in this movie. The final race against time as the ‘Trinity’ is tested on a dark, stormy night in the Mexican desert is filmed brilliantly, as is the horror that the creators of the bomb sense that they were responsible for unleashing.
Many men of genius have an intellect that is tempered by conscience and a strong sense of right and wrong. This guilt about the effects of the bomb led to Oppenheimer being an active advocate of calling for an end to nuclear arms, which earned him enemies within the scientific community and the bureaucracy. His later denouncement and fall from grace are filmed elegantly.
The script seamlessly zigzags between different timelines- the work at Los Alamos and the future where Oppenheimer is facing an inquiry about his allegiances and much later, the Congressional committee hearing which is questioning Strauss, Oppenheimer’s nemesis. Slightly confusing to the viewer initially, the narrative comes together slowly like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Disparate at first, and later congruent and absorbing.
Director Christopher Nolan is an artist who creates an almost three-hour-long opus that allows no room for errors. Be it the Trinity testing or the scientific discussions, the detail in the casting, or the costumes and the magnificent sets, everything is meticulously researched. The movie is based on the book with the self-explanatory title, ‘American Prometheus’ by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin.
Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer slips into the role that seems tailor-made for him. He personifies Oppenheimer in every frame. The exuberant youth transitions into the confident scientist and much later his self-loathing and guilt are apparent in his stricken eyes and shrunken demeanor. Emma Blunt as Kitty, his wife, is restrained or uncontrolled according to the demands of the script. Matt Damon as Groves, the military liaison is garrulous and commanding. Robert Downing Junior ( Ironman) is almost unrecognizable in his role as the conniving and vengeful Strauss.
By now most of us know that this is the highest-grossing film of this year earning over 400 million dollars and is poised to earn more and deservedly so. Biopics are difficult to film given the wealth of facts that are known and have to be shown accurately. Also difficult are the scenes that are imaginary, but need to be woven into the script to bridge the gap between known and unknown and create a smooth, credible narrative. The scene between Einstein and Oppenheimer, two brilliant but ethical minds philosophizing about their lives and watched from afar by Strauss, the materialistic, conniving bureaucrat is one such.
Much has been said about the ‘destroyer of worlds’ quote from the Bhagwad Gita, uttered by Oppenheimer after the Trinity test.
For the father of the atomic bomb, whose well-meaning efforts ended a war but created an arms race. For a person of conscience whose work annihilated two cities and was forever stricken with guilt. For a brilliant physicist who was stripped of his tenure, and humiliated, before being reinstated many years later……“Karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana.’Perform your duty, but do not have an expectation of the fruits’ is a far more apt credo. And certainly, one which Oppenheimer would have respected and understood.
A brilliant film that should be certainly watched. The ephemeral nature of life, success, and loyalties is certainly thought- provoking.
[/arm_restrict_content]
