oppenheimer movie review

oppenheimer movie review

Analyzing the Portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer in Films: A Critical Review

1. Introduction to J. Robert Oppenheimer and his Significance

J. Robert Oppenheimer was the main director of the Manhattan Project, from its inception in 1942 until after the detonation of the Trinity test in 1945. Robert Oppenheimer was a scientist of remarkable originality. His work as a theoretical physicist included the discovery of the Oppenheimer-Phillips process of ejecting deuterons by charged particles, the development and generalization of the Herzfeld method of statistical dynamics, the prediction and heuristic discussion of black holes, the prediction of neutron stars and the definition of quantum tunneling. As a gifted teacher and legendary leader of scientific thought, he had a great impact in the fields of quantum mechanics, cosmic ray theory, astrophysics, and quantum electrodynamics. Oppenheimer was very bold in his scientific research and attracted students with the same virtues, an aspect that accounts for his brilliant academic career at Berkeley University prior to his tenure at Los Alamos. His sharp intelligence, broad academic knowledge, and personal gift of critical observation impressed his colleagues in the frantic scientific atmosphere at Los Alamos, trying to meet the strict deadlines for the detonation of the first atomic bomb. The secret nuclear program that took Oppenheimer and 4,500 civilian workers to the Los Alamos plateau was classified at the highest level of secrecy and was clearly a kind of brain thrust typical of the institutional formation and operation of a scientific pantheon. Indeed, this unprecedented pantheon played a crucial role in the radical changes of the 20th century resulting from the interplay of friendly as well as enemy nuclear forces during the Cold War.

2. History of Oppenheimer’s Depiction in Movies

As early as 1947, Oppenheimer was described here not as the man who would claim or admit, “I am become death, destroyer of Worlds.” He is referred to in the movie as a great scientist, having done a lot to destroy, and it is mentioned that it is now his burden. Oppenheimer was seen as the tragic artist from a young age. Kasden observes, “as early as 1938, George Kennan noted the distinguished marks of sadness and horror on Oppenheimer’s face as he discussed nuclear energies with the Russian physicist George Gamow.” Those emotions continued throughout his life, being intensified through his experience with the Manhattan Project.

The first film to depict J. Robert Oppenheimer was in the 1947 documentary “The Beginning or the End,” but given his notoriety as the head of the American atomic bomb project, we might expect more attention paid to him. Notable depictions in the media include the 1980 television movies “Day One” and “Enola Gay,” and the 1989 feature film “Fat Man and Little Boy.” Popular biographies of Oppenheimer also include the local boy made bad, narrow trait. He was born in the town and went to the university here in California. Below, I discuss the depiction of the scientist as an anti-hero—the man who suffered for his art—the mixed characters, the political Oppenheimer, and the Oppenheimer that we don’t get to see.

3. Key Themes and Messages in Oppenheimer Films

Consistency of character in story portrayal is also an important means of communicating information about the time and place of the story. If a discrepancy arises between the imposed dramatic needs of a movie, novel, play, or dramatic production and our image of a historical personage, it is often the view of history that is expected to adapt. Consequently, although the dramatized person usually bears at least the name of some historical character, the figure thereby presented is often much different from anything the non-specialist historian is likely to discover in the course of casual research. As a result, it is the artificial character who lives on in the public’s collective memory and takes shape in particular belief systems. After the depiction, the characteristics become completely fictional. In establishing a likeness, the novelist or scriptwriter tries to be true to the factual material, his intentions frequently lapse into the bizarre. When either of these misfortunes occurs, the creative task of setting history to song becomes either an artistic pastime or a manipulative exercise. Social scientists are concerned with unmasking these parlor situations.

The theme and content expectations of Oppenheimer films can be summarized under a few broad principles. There is generally a decision or a situation that has moral implications, often of a life-and-death nature which Oppenheimer (and, indeed, his generation of atomic scientists) can address, which the lay public can relate to. This gives rise to the propensity for a messianic theme, which is Manichean in vein and pits science versus self-interest when the underlying conflict is between science and society. To communicate to the viewer, the filmmakers must conform to dramatic convention and, to communicate effectively to their audience, should fabricate the dramatic elements from the historical record. Popular historical movies have transformed significant and meticulously chronicled occasions into scandals, conspiracy theories, leadership vanities, and historical cover-ups, essentially predictable climaxes larded in search-adventure style effects. Films on scientists have tended to embroil the subject in personal relationships while subtly side-stepping the crux of the dilemmas which have caused scientific creativity of a particular caliber to emerge.

4. Critical Analysis of Accuracy and Fidelity to Historical Events

It seems unbelievable that Frank Oppenheimer’s file, privy to the VP and the R&A Division, where it was labeled “the most classified of the confidential projects” could have carried such a charge. Five years before, the Oppenheimer Brothers, Drs. Clock, who also worked for the MoD, had suggested in vain to have personal interest in the OSS contract to be solved. The OSS utilized the security of Frank, holder of the Major’s rank, for his brother as a truss of the concerned character. In summary, concerning Oppenheimer, the formulation of this problem—revisited on the four characters having some justified characters and the competing alternative solutions that are technological, individual, and project dimensioned later by the interaction of the four questions of the actions. The portrayed versions of Oppenheimer by Marton and Goodwin and by Jarecki are synthesized in Table 1, as solutions to the problems. Each movie depicted some aspects of the problems without making a significant characterization of the complex Poractory problem.

H1: Was Oppenheimer a Security Risk? A priori, one might imagine this research hypothesis is so unlikely that the null hypothesis is already prepared. However, early in the Manhattan Project the so-called Oppenheimer case concentrated minds and could have put in question the security of the project right at the start, calling its scientific leadership into question. The security risk involved Dr. Frank Oppenheimer—Robert’s younger brother. The Oppenheimer file manifested that his brother, aged 37, had achieved a Ph.D. in as little as eight months and joined a large military concern in the key laboratory. Such a short time earned the label of “school of Mr. James Bondiewallach” and the section F6/F8 of the OSS used it to support the above-mentioned charge 7 from an American hospital in Tunisia.

The complex nature of this historical figure resists characterization in films, at any rate within the typically tight narrative focus provided by such works. The reference materials on Oppenheimer, and on the historical events in which he was involved, are multitudinous. Many who wrote in his lifetime contributed to this. Subsequently, various historical reconstruction readings of his life are also readily available. In any case, I shall characterize events, people, and the aims of the Manhattan Project—the United States project to develop the atomic bomb. Then, I shall consider the portrayal of Oppenheimer in the two movies, discussing character development, accuracy of representation, and adaptation from the literary sources. Thus, I shall critically consider the movies and go on to compare them to the historical realities in which the movies are set. There is a plethora of documentary materials on Oppenheimer, pertaining to his ability, his science, his security issues, his relations with prominent scientific and political personalities of his day, personal career phases, physicist, familiarist, and administrator.

5. Impact of Oppenheimer Films on Public Perception and Understanding

The Manhattan Project is the first project to involve two thousand of the world’s scientists and engineers working in developing technology to produce a weapon of mass destruction at an unprecedented level; it finished just in 27 months. At that time, two scientists and one engineer are the leaders of the hundreds of working groups at 40 different locations with no written orders from the army or the state. In this project, not only one type of nuclear weapon, but also both of the two major project purposes of the nuclear age were achieved.

By demonstrating how J. Oppenheimer acted under tremendous pressure, the controversial aspects of his character, as well as the consequences of his success, these films provide us with insights into which key historical developments lived with the general audience. These films prepare a ground enabling a more accurate understanding of the broader impact the Manhattan Project had on weapons of mass destruction, the transformation of the United States into a world power, the change in its relations with other superpowers, and the influence of this project on international relations. Furthermore, understanding more about the life, intelligence, character, and morals of Professor Oppenheimer helps us to develop the public perception of nuclear risk and the policies he has followed. Therefore, the film medium played an important role in making the personality and ideas about J. Robert Oppenheimer visible. In that respect, the present study emphasizes only the main person and key actions.