Robert Oppenheimer was one of
the greatest scientists.
Father of the atomic mom, a
victim of the Mccarthy
witchhunts.
He is now the subject of a new
film by director Christopher
Nolan.
Jeffrey brown spoke to him for
our arts and culture series.
>> Robert Oppenheimer comes to
very large life in a film that
is star-studded and
action-packed.
It was the internal human
conflict that first grabbed him.
>> It is the most dramatic story
I've ever encountered.
To me, taking on this person,
who changed the world
irrevocably, I really warmed to
the challenge of trying to jump
into his head.
>> You wrote the script in the
first person?
>> It says I came into the room.
I felt that way, I would be on a
journey with his story to
understanding.
>> He based his drama on
American prometheus, the
pulitzer prize-winning biography
.
Highlighting the ethical choices
that played out in real time
during World War II.
Between Oppenheimer and Albert
Einstein.
>> This time, the chain reaction
doesn't stop.
>> We might start a chain
reaction that destroys the
world.
>> I wanted to put the audience
in the position of scientists
asked to deal with the race
against the Nazis.
That's where the ethics come in.
It's a situation where you have
no choice.
You can't allow the Nazis to
have a nuclear bomb.
What are your responsibilities
for something that was necessary
.
Bringing this thing into the
world, it brings in a lot of
thorny questions.
>> At 52, he is a powerhouse in
his world.
Blockbuster hits like inception
and interstellar.
The dark knight trilogy
reimagined the Batman classic.
His films of grossed $5 billion
worldwide.
He took on new challenges,
forgoing computer gym rated
imagery, filming with newly
developed black-and-white and
color imax film.
The look and experience you are
giving us, are they as important
to you as the story?
Do they go hand-in-hand?
>> To me, they go hand-in-hand.
Cinema is this fusion of sound
and images.
I like to shoot on celluloid
film because it's the closest to
what the ics.
-- The high seas.
I wanted those to be real
things.
>> The first atomic bombs were
dropped in 1945.
Debate Haskin tenured weather
Japan was set to surrender.
The final death toll was at
least 200,000.
Oppenheimer was a public hero.
He was wracked with doubts about
what they had done.
He would argue against the
creation of the hydrogen bomb.
His loyalty was challenged.
He had his security clearance
revoked.
Nolan is well aware of
contemporary residences,
including the advent of ai, a
world changing technology
unleashed without an
understanding of potential
consequences.
Do you worry that history is
repeating itself?
>> I take some comfort in
learning the leading researchers
refer to this moment as their
Oppenheimer moment.
They are looking for guidance
about their responsibility.
As a filmmaker, I am trying to
give the audience a thrill ride.
It's weird to use the word
entertainment in relation to a
story that is so serious.
It's about engagement with a
story.
My job is to pull the audience
in for this dramatic story.
I think it raises a lot of
troubling questions.
>> It's a huge story.
It's a hugely important story.
It's a three-hour film.
You are an ambitious storyteller
.
>> The thing I love about
movies, they can literally be
anything.
There has always been an
understanding in the history of
movies that it can be told on
this scale.
Am I ambitious to do that?
Certainly.
History is on my side.
There are a lot of examples of
movies that are more serious,
the do present different type of
attainment.
That's what we are doing.
We are telling a very big,
important story using the tools
to put it on the big screen
possible.
>> Oppenheimer died in 1967.
Christopher Nolan is telling his
story in theaters worldwide.