J.Robert Oppenheimer He is one of the most important men in the history of humanity. The film directed by Christopher Nolan, faithful to the status of theoretical physicist, revolves around his figure. It is about the person who, at some point, had in his hands the possibility of ending the world if one of the theories that was on his desk went wrong.
To recreate his life in oppenheimerChristopher Nolan had as reference a book recognized with the Pulitzer Prize in the category of “biography”: American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy by J. Robert Oppenheimerwritten by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin and published in 2005. It is considered the most relevant piece written about the theoretical physicist.
The influence of this book on the film is such that the authors are mentioned in the film’s credits. What does this suggest? In his script, Christopher Nolan was very attached to the biography to show what was told in the film. Therefore, beyond some creative license to favor the story or an interpretation of events, most of oppenheimer It is based on verifiable and plausible facts.
The formula used by Christopher Nolan to write the script has had very positive results. The film is a critical and box office success. Even its protagonist, Cillian Murphy has commented that she is one of the best he has read in his life.
oppenheimer and american prometheus
A very brief synopsis about oppenheimer It could be that it tells how the atomic bomb was created, a product of the Manhattan Project. But Christopher Nolan’s tape goes much further. This tries to reflect the characteristics, fears, dark sides, aspirations, values and perversions of the director of that initiative, J. Robert Oppenheimer.
It is not a film that focuses solely on the dynamics within classrooms and laboratories. His goal is to present a character full of layers and complexities, as recreated in the book. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy by J. Robert Oppenheimer. This work exposes part of the theoretical physicist’s personal life, prior to the development of the atomic bomb, as well as his subsequent circumstances, marked by the consequences of his creation.
An important feature of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy by J. Robert Oppenheimer It is that it is a non-fiction book. That is, it is made up of journalistic and documentary research, and not fictional or imaginative resources. It is estimated that one of its authors, Martin J. Sherwin, spent at least twenty years gathering information about the scientist and then pouring it into his work. That was how he came across aspects and episodes of the personal life of oppenheimer They weren’t that well known.
The myth of Prometheus
The work of Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin is related to one of the most famous tales in Rift mythology, chained prometheus, a tragedy attributed to Aeschylus. In this story, Prometheus gives fire to mortals, contradicting the order of the gods and serving humans as one of their main resources.
As a consequence, Prometheus is chained to a rock, exposed to nature. When the time comes, some birds begin to eat their entrails. Which may mean the end of his life and his pain, although it is not what happens, since part of his curse is that his body, being a god, has regenerative abilities. Therefore, consequently, he is condemned to eternal suffering.
Regarding oppenheimer, during production the parallelism is made, since the theoretical physicist, through his knowledge and work group, gave humanity a force that could be considered divine, but at the same time it can be absolutely destructive. All this is recreated in different ways, with direct references to the myth of Prometheus and also with sequences in which fire is recreated as something almost religious.