GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.3/5)
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Written for the Screen by: Christopher Nolan
Based on the Book: American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martine J. Sherwin
Produced by: Emma Thomas p.g.a, Charles Roven p.g.a, Christopher Nolan p.g.a.
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damo, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck with Rami Malek and Kenneth Branagh.
‘The most important thing to happen in the history of the world.’
When a film opens with a quote about Prometheus stealing fire from the gods and giving it to mankind to then be punished forever in hell, you know you’re in for a heavy ride.
And in the 3 hours of viewing, there was a lot to unpack; the foundation, however, of the film is a character study of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy): the father of the atomic bomb.
There are different threads in the story of the film, as the narrative follows main character Oppenheimer through his introduction, a flash forward in time, then back to his original research and forging of friendships and collaborators such Isidor Rabi (David Krumholtz), Niels Bohr (Kenneth Branagh) and yes, Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) (and kind of amazing to think of Einstein still alive less than 100 years ago).
At first the film is about the science, about Oppenheimer’s research into quantum mechanics and the idea of a star dying, cooling, the density getting greater and greater creating a gravitational pull so strong that it sucks in everything, even light.
This was the second wave of physicists exploring relativity after Einstein published his theory.
‘Algebra is like sheet music, can you hear the music?’
And Oppenheimer, overseas, absorbed all he could from the universities of England to Germany; he wanted to explore it all, then bring it back to America – no one was researching quantum mechanics in America.
He meets a girl, Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh) – a member of the Communist party. His brother’s a member too. His personal life is something that is called into question later, the later referenced in black and white, so there’s another layer to the story, like the love life of Oppenheimer is another layer to his personality. His personal life with, later, wife Kitty (Emily Blunt) and children another story added to his life.
Then, World War II breaks out. The atom has been successfully split. Rumours of the Germans working on an atom bomb reach America. They’re already two years ahead.
What choice do they have but to try to beat the Germans because if they don’t, the war, the world is ended.
This is where the suspense ramps up.
It’s the time of creation, collaboration, to experiment and research, the pressure to beat the Germans, while keeping the research secret from the Russians, the threat of spies and suspicion, so the thought of using the bomb is lost in the science of successfully making the weapon.
Then, it’s time for Trinity: the first ignition of the atom bomb’s power.
The way the explosion is captured on screen was like watching rage unfold over and over.
Nolan comes through loud and clear with the way he handles the suspense of the countdown to the explosion and the aftermath literally a tremor in the background of Oppenheimer’s world.
The play of sound and silence and the crackle and vibration all combine like Oppenheimer’s mind has just been set on fire.
There’s the image of many feet stomping and the world softening at the edges to let through a little bit of crazy.
And it feels like this is the end of the story.
But from the beginning, there’s the flash forwards to a time where Oppenheimer is being questioned about his part in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And about his connections to the Communist Party and the suspicion of information leaked to the Russians.
As hinted in the opening of the film, there’s the stealing of fire, then there’s the punishment.
In the film, it feels like the aftermath.
Here is the exploration of guilt.
And there’s a distinct change in feeling as Nolan explores Oppenheimer’s character, showing his exposure as the image of him sitting naked – he layers the feeling.
There’s more to the story than the science and the suspense, Oppenheimer is also about the psychology of a world that now has the capacity to end it – the film continues, and yes it feels long, but the full circle of understanding Oppenheimer and the world’s response to the galactic event of the atom bomb being unleashed needed time to get the full extent of the very human response of the politicians, the scientists who helped create the atom bomb and Oppenheimer.
It’s complicated, suspenseful, political, scientific and psychological. It’s a lot.
But that raging fire and those blurred edges and uncertainty around Oppenheimer’s character to then reveal the truth of all those involved in the creation of the bomb added up to a sophisticated film that demanded full attention.
Somehow, Nolan has captured an aberration using Oppenheimer as a voice. And that takes brilliance.
