Oppenheimer (2023)

Summary: This is a outing presented in sort of chronological order with flashbacks, flash asides and possibly flash-forwards. So, Oppenheimer studies physics in Britain but is guided into the world of theoretical physics and goes on to teach theoretical physics at Berkeley and Caltech. Meanwhile he takes up with Jean Tatlock a psychiatrist, but more importantly a communist, and also meets and marries his wife who had also been a communist. He is hired by General Leslie Groves to head up the Manhattan Project which is set up to develop the atom bomb, and although a hydrogen bomb is proposed, he does not progress with it. The atom bomb successfully is tested and subsequently Japan is bombed, causing some distress amongst the scientists. After the war Oppenheimer becomes a casualty during the American obsession with communism, having his security clearance revoked, but he is later rehabilitated.

Content: There is sex and nudity, one scene of Tatlock and Oppenheimer apparently doing it in front of the committee interrogating him, as imagined by his wife. Plenty of social drinking and a lot of smoking. Oppie as a young man consorts with lots of scientists, some of whom later make their way to Los Alimos. Oppenheimer interacts variously with his wife, who seems to continue to support him despite knowing about Tatlock. We see the explosions leading up to the big one, all stunningly presented. After one explosion Oppenheimer asks “well what have we learnt about this one?” Some one replies, “we need to be further away!”

A View: This film has made a load of money and has taken its place at No 46 in the IMDb all time greats. Doubtless there will be Oscars coming in its direction, particularly for Robert Downey Jr. Ideally you need to be familiar with American politics to get the best out of it, and it might come as a surprise to the current generations that Oppenheimer’s concerns about the end of the world seemed pretty valid in the 1970s. I’m a Brit, but I legally owned a handgun in those times, due to the view that in the aftermath of nuclear conflagration civilisation, as we know it, would break down.

Other films by Christopher Nolan reviewed on this site include: Memento, Inception and Interstellar