Mayank Chaturvedi

“Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to man. For this he was chained to the rock and tortured for eternity.” Yesterday I watched the most awaited movie of the year, Oppenheimer. Loved the filmography of Cristopher Nolan. Somehow, watching Cristopher’s movies always gives me the impression of reading a book. The literature, history, and political philosophy play a great part in Oppenheimer. Here’s an honest review after my first viewing of the masterpiece. The storytelling in Oppenheimer is fantastic. Cillian Murphy plays the part of Oppenheimer, whose character shuttles between a stoic scientist dedicated to build an atomic bomb, and a traumatized individual suffering from the guilt complex. The movie effectively depicts the contrast between these two sides of his personality. Cillian is famous for his role as a calm, focussed, stoic gentleman in Peaky Blinders, and he is almost a perfect fit for the stronger side of Oppenheimer’s character. However, I feel the softer side of Oppenheimer’s character could have been portrayed with more emotion and pain. He could have been more expressive to showcase the emotional side. I would rate Cillian Murphy’s captivating performance as 7/10. The icing on the cake is the inclusion of political philosophy in the movie. We may be at the risk of demanding too much, but more political philosophy could have made the movie even more interesting. It's possible that I missed the reason behind the protagonist's political inclination on the first watch, but such important information is not explained well in the movie. Beneath the complexities of non-linear timelines, Nolan sneaked in some honest views on US war policies. Stating that the US bombed Japan after the war was won by Allies is courageous for a Hollywood director. The History behind World War 2 and the Cold war makes the movie a must watch. The movie is divided into two frames of references: one from the subjective experience of Oppenheimer, and other from the experience of Lewis Strauss. Whether it’s the spinning top towards the end of the Inception, or the fourth dimension towards the end of Interstellar, the endings of Cristopher Nolan's movies are open-ended and intellectually exciting. The closing conversation between Oppenheimer and Einstein is about the metaphorical chain reaction atomic bomb has started. The protagonist, who is compared to Prometheus tied to the rock, is pessimistic about the future of the world. He is suffering from extreme guilt for introducing an instrument of “death.” “Now I've become the Death, the destroyer of the Worlds.” I'd rate the movie a 7 out of 10 3.5 out of 5