Oppenheimer is a Fabulous Glasperlenspiel, written by Christopher Nolan, Kai Bird, Martin Sherwin and directed by the former http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/10/dunkirk-written-and-directed-by.html - 10 out of 10

 

Oppenheimer is a Fabulous Glasperlenspiel, written by Christopher Nolan, Kai Bird, Martin Sherwin and directed by the former http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/10/dunkirk-written-and-directed-by.html

10 out of 10

 

 

This masterpiece is already a classic, and has jumped at number thirty one on the list of most popular films ever, something confirmed by yours truly last night, when I went to the cinema theater for the first time in more than twenty years – the last time, it was at the Vitan Mall, to see Cold Mountain, which aside from being directed by Anthony Minghella, with Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, Renee Zellweger, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ray Winstone and many other splendid actors, was filmed near my house, which back then was in the Cold Mountain, on the edge of the forest…the scene with the huts was just some hundred meters from the abode, but in spite of all this, the show was such a major disappointment (due to high expectations in large part) that it had kept me away from the big screen for decades…

 

Until yesterday, when a spectacular production changed the whole game, indeed, I am planning to ask my daughter for another evening out, in November, when she returns for holidays, maybe to see Killers of the Flower Moon (if that is the name) this is all thanks to Nolan and the team, and we must not forget gratitude for Robert J Oppenheimer, who was such a ‘brilliant mind’ – he asks general Leslie Groves aka Matt Damon at one stage, when the latter talks about the descriptions given by colleagues about the brilliance

‘The Father of the Atomic Bomb’ was a phenomenal human being, complex is the first to come to mind, with a multitude of skills that humble the viewer, who is never able to have the foggiest idea about cuantics, never mind grasp anything of substance from that (in general, there would be exceptions of course, but in an age when so many give the most stupid answers when asked simple questions, and vote like cave men, Oppenheimer has the brains of a billion humans put together) an agitated life, showing interest not just in the most inescapable physics, but also in art, politics, psychoanalysis

 

When he makes love to Jean Tatlock, she sees a book and asks about it, ‘I am become Death, destroyer of worlds’ the scientist has started learning Sanskrit, talks about fundamental changes and mentions Picasso (he is shown walking the art galleries of Europe) Freud, Marx, the latter casting a shadow over the life and career of the hero, because albeit Oppenheimer has not become a member of the communist party, with his free spirit and fantastic, open mind, he had been reading the new doctrines, looking for solutions, entertained some left ideas, became friends with communists (his brother would become a member)

This will be used against the head of the Manhattan Project, causing authorities to investigate him – largely, this was due to Lewis Strauss aka Robert Downey Jr and if there is a small caveat I have, I was thinking that maybe the film, otherwise perfect, nay, perfect the way it is, would benefit if there were fewer minutes dedicated to the persecution and the Lewis character, but then this is fundamental for the life of the hero, it also shows what happens to great people, they become the target…

 

Robert Oppenheimer was chosen to manage the project of developing the atomic bomb, there were fears that Hitler could get it first, especially given the advance he had had, and that would win the war for the Nazis, fortunately, in an ironic twist emphasized by the physicist, the anti-Semitism of the monster would allow the Americans to catch up, and eventually win this race, because Hitler had said that ‘cuantics is a Jewish science’ and hence he would not pay attention, and fund the massive endeavor…

There was another, more serious fear, that the nuclear explosion would set off a chain reaction, the atmosphere would burn, the world will be destroyed, and the head of the Manhattan Project went to Albert Einstein to ask about the calculations (these brief encounters are a delight, like everything else in this chef d’oeuvre, Einstein says he hates mathematics, Oppenheimer insists that the genius had been so relevant in his time, forty years back) and he suggests that they should talk to the Nazis, if it really looks as if the world might end, so that they would both agree not to pursue the bomb…however, the idea that the Nazis could get the nuclear capabilities is the enormous incentive for the hero…

 

He says that ‘I don’t know if we (the Americans) are able to control this thing, but I am sure the Nazis will not’ and there is this ambivalence, the horror he feels once he will have found (is this cause for spoiler alert, I am not sure, as the role model said, but then it is clear that not many, if any, are reading this far into this note) the gruesome, terrifying, monstrous effects of the bomb, the radiation, suffering, which will determine the once head of the Atomic Project to become a militant, to use his prestige (for as long as they do not attack and try to discredit him, and after that) to make leaders engage in arms control, to avoid a race for a bigger bomb, the hydrogen and other versions, that are available today

This film is fundamental and should be included in curriculums because it is spectacular, nec plus ultra, but also because the message could be transformational, life-changing, although leaders will not abandon nuclear arms, since there is always the risk that your enemy would cheat (think of the despots Putin, Xi, Kim and so many others) and so far, the atomic deterrent has functioned, in that it has prevented the two super powers to go to war (they have had the cold one, but not a hot war) there is the lesson they can take from watching Oppenheimer, how to be a leader, indeed there are many Character Strengths that the man had, such as to make him a role model, he was loyal, brave, wise, curious, creative, munificent, humble (if a little arrogant at times), devoted, resilient, the list is so long, as to make him nearly perfect

 

This magnificent work of art has humor too, such as when general Leslie Groves is shocked to hear that the atomic explosion might end the world and asks more details, only to be told that the chance is ‘near zero’, which is evidently not good enough, but hey, ‘what do you expect from pure theory’, and then there is the chilling and then we have the meeting with Harry Truman aka Oscar Winner Gary Oldman (I told my sister that in that dialogue we may have the Academy Award winner and a future one, maybe next spring) where the president shows himself to be cruel, self-absorbed (however far from the leader the Americans may have again, next year, now that fellow is himself ‘Death, Destroyer of Worlds’)

 

There is much more to say about this magical Glasperlenspiel, but I stop here, nobody is interested in any more of this, if they ever were in the rest…

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world   – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html