MOVIES IN LA PLAZA: OPPENHEIMER—THE BOMB AND POLITICS

Commentary by Sergio Martínez

When a film lasts three hours, the story must be very good to deserve all that time in front of the big screen. Oppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan, certainly meets those requirements. One might even say that there was still historical material for a few extra minutes: the time after he became the subject of U.S. Senate investigations, his commitment to the cause of peace and his rehabilitation under President Kennedy. However, we must stick to what Nolan and the two other authors of the screenplay, Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin, wanted to highlight, Robert Oppenheimer's academic career, his sympathies for left-wing causes –he supported the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War, for example— his theoretical and instrumental role in the creation of the first atomic bomb and the investigation to which he was subjected by the U.S. Senate, for his alleged "communist sympathies".

Cillian Murphy as Robert Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) stands out from the beginning for his extraordinary intelligence and skills in mastering physics. In 1927 he obtained a doctorate in physics from the University of Göttingen in Germany, where he studied with Max Born, an eminence in quantum mechanics. Back in the United States, he increasingly focused on studies that led him to explore the dynamics of the smallest: the world of atoms.

Along with his academic work, he manifests his interest in political issues, like many on university campuses at that time, the decade of the 30s. The Civil War in Spain and the rise of fascism worried the progressive sectors because of the effects they could have on the world. This interest in political issues will also lead him to more immediate interests: in one of these activities, he meets Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh), a Communist Party member who will become his lover for a while.

When he marries, his wife Kitty (Emily Blunt) also has connections with the Left, although she is no longer in the Communist Party. There is some humour in the first meeting between the two; Oppenheimer asks her, "Are you married?" to which she replies, "Not very much." Later, before initiating a more intimate moment, she had asked him to explain quantum mechanics to him, "Well, this glass, this drink, the countertop...uh, our bodies, all this...it's mostly empty space. Groupings of tiny waves of energy bound them together," the physicist replies. "By what?" she asks him, "by forces of attraction strong enough to convince us that...matter is solid, to prevent my body from passing through yours..." he replies as he takes her hand.

The development of the atomic bomb is a moment of drama very well described; the production of the atomic bomb created for all the scientists involved in the Manhattan Project pressing ethical dilemmas: it was clear that such a weapon of mass destruction would "kill the just and the unjust" as one of the scientists who would object to the idea points out. Oppenheimer himself had his doubts as well, but at the time, there were strong pressures to end the war once and for all and "bring our boys back home", as some justified.

Even in terms of physical science, there was some doubt. Since this process by which such an enormous amount of energy would be unleashed had never been put into practice, there were those who believed that the explosion of the bomb (the first test was in the New Mexico desert in July 1945) could produce a total ignition of the atmosphere; in short, the destruction of the world. General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon), the military supervisor of the project, asks Oppenheimer: "Are you saying that when we push that button, there is a chance that we will destroy the world?" To which the scientist replies: "The chances are near zero". Groves, exasperated, says: "Near zero?" to which Oppenheimer replies: "What do you want from theory alone?" "Zero would be nice!" the general finishes saying.

A single bomb would certainly not destroy the world, although the two that were dropped on Japan to achieve its surrender were sufficiently devastating. Moreover, even at that time, the manufacture of a bomb several times more powerful –the hydrogen bomb— was being studied. Oppenheimer opposed going down that road, arguing that its use would cause even greater carnage and be unnecessary.

This stance against the development of the hydrogen bomb would later be used in Senate hearings to discredit Oppenheimer. The film nicely interweaves scenes from those Senate investigating committee hearings –mostly in black and white— with scenes of the bomb's development and other moments in Oppenheimer's life. It also reveals foul play on the part of other academics and scientists, particularly Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), who led the attacks on the father of the atomic bomb.

Oppenheimer is a highly recommendable film, not only for the interesting focus on the events surrounding the manufacture of the first atomic bomb but also for the in-depth look it offers us of a man who –like everyone— had contradictions and moral dilemmas to face, but whose contribution to the history of the 20th century is undeniable. Cillian Murphy portrays his character very well, seeming to convey much of him, even in his moments of silence, just by his face that seems inscrutable in the face of the dilemmas he faces.

Running time: 180 min.