Oppenheimer review: Gripping Portrait of mastermind behind Hiroshima, Nagasaki Bombs, and Post-WWII Espionage Suspicions
The story begins with the concept of fission and fusion.
Hyderabad: It is time for a history lesson. In time of war, who better than the person regarded by many as the father of the atomic bomb – Julius Robert Oppenheimer.
This time it is the acclaimed Christopher Nolan helming the project. It is on the life of Oppenheimer or Oppie who was not only instrumental in creating the Little Boy and Fat Man that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on those fateful days, tragically, was also suspected of spying against the United States post World War II. As always, Nolan uses minimal CGI and relies on his and his team’s abilities and brilliance.
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The story begins with the concept of fission and fusion. Fission: Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) is under investigation by the Gray Team for his renewal of his security clearance. Immediately, Nolan shows the fusion: Lewis Strauss’s (Robert Downey Jr.) Committee hearing for his nominee to the Senate.
Oppie is telling his story and starts with his days pursuing his PhD in Physics in Germany. He struggles with mathematics and that adds to his anxiety. He returns to the United States not finding opportunities to continue his research in quantum physics.
He starts teaching at the University of California at Berkeley, while also dedicating time to Caltech University. He meets people like the Nobel laureate Ernest Lawrence (Josh Hartnett) from whom Oppenheimer learns the importance of applied physics, Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh) a psychiatrist, and physician with whom he has an on again off again relationship, and Kitty (Emily Blunt) whom he marries.
He also runs into Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) and with whom he discusses the burden of knowledge they bear and the effects of nuclear warfare. He is approached by Lieutenant General Leslie Richard Groves (Matt Damon) to join the Manhattan Project. There, however, is a rider – Oppenheimer must not be a Communist. He succeeds in creating the atomic bomb and says “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds”. What follows after Oppenheimer reaches his peak is what the rest of the film is about.
Bollywood biographical filmmakers would do well in taking a leaf out of Nolan’s book. This biography covers all aspects and yet leaves it to the audience to decide whether what Oppenheimer had to go through was his Karma.
It takes a master to ensure that great actors do not spoil the script. In fact, it is almost like one tries to outdo the other. Cillian Murphy is out of the world. His performance in Peaky Blinders pales in comparison. Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh have little to do but deliver whenever called upon. Blunt shows that you need not have a long screentime to leave an expression. Scenes where she is interrogated by Roger Robb (Jason Clarke) and in the climax scene where she refuses to shake Oppie’s colleague’s hand stand out.
Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss is impeccable. From now on he should be known as Strauss and not Iron Man. This is his best performance and I sincerely hope he does not make a comeback to the Avengers franchise.
He showcases what we have missed since his Zodiac days. Nolan has got his mix of politics and science in the right amounts. Nolan deals not only with politics of science but also with the science of politics. The way he shows how women were treated at workspace and how he showcases American politics is just sublime.
Though 180-minute long, it is worthwhile to sit and see how a man’s ideas took shape and how a minute decision in life can result in a catastrophe. Nolan’s product is exactly what it is supposed to be – the life of a person and consequences of actions.
Kitty asks Oppie whether he allowed the committee to rip his life apart so that the world could forgive him and tells him that they would not. He says, let us see – that sums up the movie. Even if you are not interested in politics or science, watch it for the performances. In contemporary times, this could well be the best that has come.
