Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Christopher Nolan / Kae Bird / Martin Sheen
Starring: Cillian Murphy / Emily Blunt / Matt Damon / Robert Downey Jr. / Florence Pugh / Gary Oldman / Rami Malek / Casey Affleck / Kenneth Branagh / Dane DeHaan / Josh Hartnett / Alden Ehrenreich / Jack Quaid / David Dasmalchian / James D'Arcy / Ben Safdie / Alex Wolff / Gustav Skarsgård / Matthias Schweighöfer / Tom Conti / Michael Angarano / David Krumholtz / Jason Clarke / Emma Dumont / Matthew Modine / Tony Goldwyn
Genre: Drama / Biography / History
Official Website: https://www.oppenheimermovie.com
Country/Region: United States / United Kingdom
Language: English
Release Date: 2023-08-30 (China) / 2023-07-20 (Hong Kong) / 2023-07-11 (Paris Premiere) / 2023-07-21 (United States)
Runtime: 180 minutes
IMDb: tt15398776
Just because science can do something doesn't mean it should, and that's the question that Christopher Nolan's film Oppenheimer (2023) explores when we think about the long-term effects of things like genetic modification and artificial intelligence. This film is an astonishing feat, telling the story of the creation and use of the atomic bomb.
The film has deep meaning on multiple levels. It is a character study of the brilliant and driven J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy), affectionately known as "Oppy" by his friends, a man who is ultimately hindered by his own principles. It is a philosophical reflection on how the thirst for knowledge and the pursuit of power intertwine in disastrous ways. It is also a gripping tale of the creation of the atomic bomb and its consequences.
The film, despite its three-hour runtime, moves quickly thanks to Nolan's masterful storytelling. Never before has a film filled with men in suits and military uniforms discussing things been so captivating. This is thanks to agile editing, stellar performances from the cast, an original and multi-layered script, and a score that resonates with the soul.
The film presents multiple timelines. We see Oppenheimer haunted by exploding universes and endless misfortunes during his time at Cambridge University. We see him as a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, the first person to bring quantum physics to the United States. We see him building the atomic bomb at Los Alamos. And we see him facing jeopardy to his security clearance at a closed-door hearing.
When Oppenheimer first arrives at Berkeley, he has only one student, but news of him doing truly groundbreaking things in the classroom spreads. Soon, he is surrounded by a group of young scientists who admire him, not just as students, but as followers.
During this time, Oppenheimer becomes interested in communism – the film makes it clear that most left-leaning intellectuals were at least dabbling in communism in the 1940s. He attends some meetings but never formally joins the party, despite his beloved brother (played by Dylan Arnold) being a member. This period of curiosity about communism has far-reaching consequences for the scientist. It is during these communist gatherings that he meets Jean Tatlock (played by Florence Pugh) and Kitty (played by Emily Blunt), the former being his great love and a troubled introvert, and the latter being a smart and loyal biologist who he later marries and has children with.
The film is filled with male characters – politicians, scientists, scholars, even Albert Einstein (played by Tom Conti). There was a joke online that if you were a white male and weren't cast as Oppenheimer, you needed a better agent. In most cases, such a star-studded cast might be distracting, but in this case, it adds to the enjoyment. Who plays Truman? Yes, that's Gary Oldman. And who plays Ernest Lawrence, Oppenheimer's friend and colleague at Berkeley, portrayed by the former teenage heartthrob (forever in my heart), Josh Hartnett? It also gives some of the supporting actors – especially David Krumholtz, Ben Safdie, Kenneth Branagh, and Alden Ehrenreich – a chance to shine.
But two people have a significant impact on Oppenheimer's trajectory. One is Lewis Strauss (played by Robert Downey Jr.), who hires Oppenheimer as the head of the astrophysics department at Princeton University.
Strauss greatly admires Oppenheimer and initially appears to be an ally. But he becomes deeply unsettled when he believes Oppenheimer has undermined him in front of Einstein. Oppenheimer humiliates him during a congressional hearing involving isotopes. (Yes, I don't understand it either, but please note Strauss' fixed and strained smile when Oppenheimer strikes him.)
The other person is General Leslie Groves (played by Matt Damon), who recruits Oppenheimer to lead the Manhattan Project, with the goal of creating a bomb powerful enough to completely end Nazism. He knows of Oppenheimer's past communist leanings but believes the scientist to be a true patriot. And, importantly, he needs Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer's mistake seems to be thinking that Groves' loyalty to him would outweigh his own value.
From then on, there is a sense of "let's team up" as they establish a secret laboratory at Los Alamos – a beloved vacation spot for Oppenheimer's family and with enough open space to test bombs – and gather the brightest scientists from the United States and other countries.
The scene of them detonating a real atomic bomb for the first time at Los Alamos is filled with almost unbearable tension. Here, Nolan uses sound design to great effect. Suddenly, they have a usable atomic bomb, and Oppenheimer is no longer needed. Groves essentially says, "Doctor, we'll take it from here," and drives away.
They then proceed to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki instead of Germany and the Nazis – Hitler is already dead. As Oppenheimer's scientists cheer for him like conquering heroes, he is overcome with a sense of dread. He sees faces with skin peeling off, and he sees the blinding white light. He is not the only one who sees the terrifying nature of this "achievement." In the midst of the cheers, one scientist vomits. Another weeps.
What have they created?
Afterward, Oppenheimer becomes a pacifist, trying to prevent the creation of even more powerful hydrogen bombs and advocating for peaceful negotiations with Russia. But it is too late. The genie is out of the bottle. "This isn't a new weapon," his mentor Niels Bohr (played by Kenneth Branagh) says. "This is a new world." Oppenheimer is soon plagued by the nationwide Red Scare. Will he go from being a national hero to a villain?
While Oppenheimer deeply questions the desire for human self-destruction, the question that seems to interest Nolan the most is: Why did Oppenheimer make the choices he did? Murphy's performance is outstanding. The actor shares Oppenheimer's tormented pale blue eyes, high cheekbones, and rugged physique (he lost a significant amount of weight for the role), perfectly capturing the physicist's contradictions – intellectually brilliant but personally reckless, outwardly confident but plagued by doubt, driven yet burdened by pain. Thanks to Nolan and Murphy, we see the full complexity of Oppenheimer – neither monster nor savior, neither victim nor villain, ultimately just a man.