Oppenheimer’s Truth
It’s been three days since I watched Christopher Nolan’s newest cinematic pursuit - a riveting biopic on Robert J. Oppenheimer, the physicist responsible for uncovering the atomic bomb during the Second World War. Picking away at the scientific timeline of this process gives way to a far more complex understudy of what occurs when science and politics find themselves as two sides of the same coin.
This movie was thrilling from the moment the opening credits ended, flooded with Nolan’s stylistic use of cinematic parallels. From the hypnotic rippling of water droplets in the opening frame, to the colossal plumes of mushroom clouds following the bombs detonation, as a viewer you are forced to live and breathe the same undulations that animated Oppenheimer’s life.
Before hauling myself to the theatre to sit for this three-hour odyssey, I took to our trusted friend ‘Wikipedia’ to get a better idea of what I was getting myself into, for the act of film watching is the greatest practice of empathy ; an arduous task of placing mind and soul into the emotions and thoughts of an unknown character for what seems like a lifetime of action. My research led me to conclude that his life was nothing short of a Greek tragedy - an ambitious genius undertaking a once-in-a-generation task to break the boundaries of physics that characterised the turn of the 20th century.
The thrilling recreation of the ‘Trinity’ test and preceding political burdens Oppenheimer committed to created the perfect, dramatic ‘crux’, peaking his moral introspection on the reality he was now faced with. I do believe amidst the monochromatic daze of Nolan’s cinematography, this movie is a timely reminder of our inherent vulnerability as impulse-led beings and the increasing fragility of peacetime.
During an old interview with Steven Shapin, the Franklin L. Ford Research Professor of the History of Science at the University of Harvard, Oppenheimer is described as a reminder of the role intellectuals play in modern society - a reminder of the crossroad between “science and morality, science and politics, science and religion and science and philosophy”.
Cillian Murphy’s monochromatic movement encapsulates the aura of a man who had the world’s pulse in his hand. The creation of the world’s first atomic bomb is no doubt the most conflicting event in human history - it has handed us the key to total destruction whilst also acting as a form of containment through deterrence. When I think of Oppenheimer’s life, I remind myself of the context of the broader world, a world at war with an increasingly threatening, fascist power. It reminds me of Thucydides’ account of the Peloponnesian war - a first taste of our human tendency to engage in war with the rise of a displacing power.
Oppenheimer’s life’s work has driven physics to the edge of innovation, embodying the most authentic tale of trial and error. A lifetime of obsessive development was thanked with a brutally politicised trial of personal character and history by Capitol Hill. It is a shame to think that Oppenheimer’s life remains increasingly relevant to our modern day - an intellectual endlessly witch-hunted and disregarded by xenophobic, anti-progressive political forces. More recently, Trump’s denouncement of climate change seems to ring a bell or two.
Nolan encompasses Oppenheimer’s story as a man with God-like power - and in a sense it is true. Quoting the Bhagavad Gita, Oppenheimer famously states the line - “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds”, during the ostensible climax of power and the overwhelming consciousness of despair. This reference is not just a science-geek’s moment of intellectual indulgence, but an accurate illustration of Oppenheimer’s understanding of the universe - a coalescence of morality, fear, duty and destruction. His creation, from the ‘Trinity’ test to the detonation of the Atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is emblematic of our impulse to resort to destruction. Albeit an exploration of his scientific prowess, his life is essential to the structure of modern-day politics.
The peripeteia of his life seems to be found in the abstracted prerequisites of war and the power of scientific discovery to propel the death of hundreds of thousands of Japanese lives - a haunting reminder of the perils that emerge when Great Power politics and sovereign ambition mix.
In the backdrop of this, reminders of the McCarthy era’s leftist crusades mirror the externalised disconnect between morality and the world of politics. The protagonist is left begging at his conscience for the remainder of the film. Having little-to-no say in the use of the weapon, Oppenheimer’s role in the Manhattan Project seems doomed from the start. This film uncovers the almost aggravating role “overweening ambition” plays in blinding Oppenheimer to commit to the creation of the most calamitous weapon known to man.
Cillian Murphy’s portrayal of this haunted man is arresting. Haunted by the political stakes at hand, whilst bearing the burden of unmatched scientific prowess during a time of historical and moral dilemma.
My obsession with this story may seem facile, but the relevance of nuclear war at the hands of ambitious leaders is inexorable. Nine states - the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel- are now recognised as being armed with nuclear weapons. They continue to modernise their arsenals and many of them regularly display their jingoistic toys for the world to see. It seems as though we are increasingly at the mercy of diplomatic easing as the only tool competent enough to abate world-ending warfare.
For me, this movie has gone beyond just a simple recount of historical event. It has instead made clear the fated potential for nuclear Armageddon. I often complain that, as a student of International Affairs, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the intricacies of age-old theoretical prophecies on what the international order will look like in years to come - and “Oppenheimer” has made simple that our reality requires us to keep our fists closed, and our arms up. Perpetual fear can only be remedied by perpetual caution.
Upon the completion of the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer famously recalled that “we knew the world not [to] be the same…a few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent” - this remains true for the many of our generation who peer into the future and see the same.
