Oppenheimer : You cannot forget about forgetting

“Don’t prove anyone convicted, just attempt to deny them because conviction gives the status of martyrdom and denial simply rejection.”

          These lines are from the film ‘Oppenheimer’, not exactly, only inspired by the statement of Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, a member of US Energy Commission, when J Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist,  became a campaigner against the use of atomic bombs after the success of Project Manhattan, US government’s secret research project that produced the first atomic bomb and also famed Oppenheimer as the father of atomic bomb. 

Me at a cinema hall in Delhi to watch the film Oppenheimer directed by Christopher Nolan, Saturday, July 22, 2023.

Backgrounder -

J Robert Oppenheimer’s lines “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds” was proved when United Stated detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that killed more than 2 lakh people, most of whom were civilians. Although the bombings ended the 6-year-long World War-2, but also left its footprint that is still visible in the cities of Japan.

Japan surrendered to the Allied Powers, a group that was formed to nullify the aggression of the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) by the Great Britain, United States and Soviet Union. Italy also surrendered. Germany was too defeated with the fall of Berlin but laid bare a drama in the arena of ideological conflict, called Cold War, and bifurcated Germany into two: East and West controlled by eastern communist and western democratic regime. And, many claim that it all happened due to the invention of nuclear weapons because both regimes had potential to develop more warheads and there was no fear. 

According to ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) website, there are more than 13000 nuclear weapons in the current arsenal in the world. Each warhead has potential to destruct any area. ICAN explains these as the most inhumane and indiscriminate weapons ever created.

Oppenheimer : Creation of Christopher Nolan 

       The most recurring theme of the Nolan’s film is the ‘concept of time’ and ‘sound’. ‘Time’ plays an important role in his films whatever their plot are! It has been witnessed in his films Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet, Prestige, and now Oppenheimer. ‘Sound’ is the 2nd crucial factor of his films, that rises from lower beats to higher beats and culminates with the end of a scene. These factors including the style of story telling, dialogues, scene creation, VFX utilisation and post-modernism trend that hallucinate the watchers and make their films blockbuster and successful at the office. 

Poster of the film Oppenheimer at a cinema hall in Delhi, Saturday, July 22, 2023. (Pic by R. Suresh Bhardwaj)

        It is said about Nolan that he is assumed as a postmodernist. Visual style in his films focuses on urban settings, men in western-style suits and modern architecture. He uses a perfect combination of light, music, western social hierarchy and the geometrical pattern.

        These all portrayal also reflect in his latest film Oppenheimer which is billed as a biopic of J Robert Oppenheimer, the ‘father of the atomic bomb’. It is a sharp, dense and complex piece that weaves together romantic hookup, courtroom drama, laboratory experiment and lecture hall exposure. Its casts Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr, Florence Pugh and Emily Blunt has performed well as per the scenes for a better cinematographic display. 

        Perhaps more than all of this, Oppenheimer id an ultimate movie. But, it talks less about the campaign run by the creator of atomic bomb, Robert Oppenheimer, a man who captivated by the boundless possibilities of science, realising too late that his creation has a limitless capacity for destruction. His idea of creating the atomic bomb spread to other countries which raced to increase their arsenal. In many opinions, atomic warheads apparently decrease the frequency of wars between the world powers because each party was in fear to be devastated. Realist theorists appreciate these idea whereas the idealists oppose this idea of ‘nuclear deterrence’. Russia, erstwhile U.S.S.R., fought an ideological war against the West by getting psychological power from nuclear bombs.

A scene from Oppenheimer, captured by R. Suresh Bhardwaj while watching the film at a cinema hall, in Delhi, Saturday, July 32, 2023.

        The film also narrates the sequence of courtroom drama how a physicist is sidelined over the debate on nuclear non-proliferation. As Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, a member of US Energy Commission, states that we are not going to convict him (Oppenheimer), we simply deny him. And, he is made accused of being a member of communist party. Then, Socialists are assumed as a greater threat than fascists in USA, as per the film. After trials, he lost his courtroom battle that resulted in the revocation of his security clearance. 

        A legend physicist who made USA a powerful nation, was now sidelined from the government due to his campaign against the weapon of mass destruction. 

Star - 4.5 out of 5.

Mood -🥰🥰