“I have become death, destroyer of worlds.”
“Oppenheimer” is a film about J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist, who helped develop the atomic bomb. The film won seven Oscars including the Academy Award for Best Picture and many other awards like a BAFTA for best film.
The film is based on the book “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer,” a biography by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. The film explains and compares Oppenheimer to Prometheus, the god who gave humans fire and was tortured for eternity.
The film follows Oppenheimer through his younger years to his older years and focuses on his brilliance and his trials and tribulations.
Christopher Nolan does an excellent job in bringing history to life in “Oppenheimer.” The movie is beautifully made. In the beginning of the movie, it’s almost like a symphony of moving pictures and sounds. It’s three hours long but keeps you interested and on the edge of your seat the entire time.
The film really highlights the moral dilemma in developing an atomic bomb. With scenes of Oppenheimer just taking a second to realize what he’s about to do and at the end realizing what he has done. Toward the end of the movie, you can see how guilt effects Oppenheimer. He starts disassociating and goes to a meeting where he sees the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In that scene, he looks distraught and puts his head down as if he can’t take seeing the death that he indirectly caused.
Einstein is in the film and is almost like a sage to Oppenheimer. The scenes with Einstein brings light into the situations Oppenheimer is facing and gives another perspective that wasn’t easily considered when watching the movie.
Cillian Murphy does a great job in portraying Oppenheimer. Murphy lost weight for the role as the real Oppenheimer had a lack of appetite. Robert Downey Jr.’s role was dynamic and interesting, with going from being a good guy to a vengeful prosecuting man. Rami Malek, Matt Damon and Josh Peck are also in the movie.