Imp Pre-script : 1. Truth is stranger than fiction, and History
has more twists than any soap opera. Not
sure how many would read this lengthy post.
In case you do, request that you register your comments – at least a 5
!!
2. I am no Cine buff – yet the hype behind this
bio-pic makes me think that I may see this move on theatre !!
A few decades ago, new
movies would be released on Friday, festival days like Deepavali, Pongal, New
year etc.,
The Hindu trinity
comprises Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver, and Shiva, the destroyer.
The three Gods represent the cyclical nature of our existence from birth,
preservation, and destruction to subsequent regeneration. These Gods are
identifiable in their artistic representations by the icons commonly associated
with them.
The Los Alamos Laboratory,
also known as Project Y, was a secret laboratory established by the Manhattan
Project and operated by the University of California during World War II. Its
mission was to design and build the first atomic bombs. Robert Oppenheimer was
its first director, serving from 1943 to December 1945, when he was succeeded
by Norris Bradbury.
Trinity was the code name
of the first detonation of a nuclear weapon, conducted by the United States
Army on July 16, 1945, as part of the Manhattan Project. The test was conducted
in the Jornada del Muerto desert about 35 miles (56 km) southeast of Socorro,
New Mexico, on what was then the White Sands Proving Grounds.
The code name "Trinity" was
assigned by J. Robert Oppenheimer, the
director of the Los Alamos Laboratory, inspired by the poetry of John Donne.
The test was of an implosion-design plutonium device, nicknamed the
"Gadget", of the same design as the Fat Man bomb later detonated over
Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945. The complexity of the design required a
major effort from the Los Alamos Laboratory. The test site was later
declared a National Historic Landmark district in 1965, and listed on the
National Register of Historic Places the following year.
The man at the helm is a
powerful name in History – Oppenheimer. His diverse interests sometimes
even interrupted his focus on science. He liked things that were
difficult and since much of the scientific work appeared easy for him, he
developed an interest in the mystical and the cryptic. After leaving Harvard,
he began to acquaint himself with the classical Hindu texts through their
English translations. He also had an interest in learning languages and learned
Sanskrit,under Arthur W. Ryder at Berkeley in 1933. He eventually read literary
works such as the Bhagavad Gita and Meghaduta in their original Sanskrit and
deeply pondered them. He later cited the Gita as one of the books that most
shaped his philosophy of life., He wrote to his brother that the Gita was
"very easy and quite marvelous", and called it "the most
beautiful philosophical song existing in any known tongue." He later
gave copies of holy Bhagwat Geetha as presents to his friends and
kept a personal, worn-out copy on the bookshelf by his desk. He even nicknamed
his car Garuda, the mount bird of the Hindu god Sriman Narayana.
The recent release of two vastly different films, "Barbie"
and "Oppenheimer," has created a unique and humorous juxtaposition in
the entertainment world. The movies, targeting different audiences, have
sparked a surge of interest online, generating predictions of significant
box-office success.
"Barbie" showcases the iconic
Mattel doll's pink-themed universe, while "Oppenheimer" delves into
the story of the architect behind the atomic bomb. Despite their distinct
themes, the two films have become intertwined in a conjoined hype cycle,
resulting in a surge in ticket sales. AMC Entertainment reported that over
40,000 people purchased tickets for a double feature of both films, amounting
to five hours of movie viewing.
Although the films are expected to
perform well, "Barbie" is projected to outshine
"Oppenheimer" at the box office. Analysts predict that
"Barbie" has the potential to rake in an impressive $158 million in
the United States and Canada through the opening weekend. On the other hand,
"Oppenheimer" is estimated to bring in approximately half of that
amount, around $50 million in domestic sales. Warner Bros., the studio behind
"Barbie," cautiously tempered expectations, suggesting a more
conservative estimate of around $75 million.
Oppenheimer is
an epic biographical thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan.
Based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J.
Sherwin, the film chronicles the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical
physicist who was pivotal in developing the first nuclear weapons as part of
the Manhattan Project, and thereby ushering in the Atomic Age. Cillian Murphy
stars as the titular character, with Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer's wife,
Katherine "Kitty" Oppenheimer, Matt Damon as General Leslie Groves,
Oppenheimer's military handler. The project was announced in September
2021 after Universal Pictures won a bidding war for Nolan's
screenplay.
Oppenheimer premiered at Le Grand Rex
in Paris on July 11, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom
and United States on July 21, 2023 by Universal Pictures. Its simultaneous
release with the fantasy comedy Barbie gave rise to the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon and drove
audiences to go see both films as a double feature. The film received
widespread critical acclaim, with praise towards Nolan's direction and
screenplay, the performances of the cast, visuals, and Göransson's score.
Plot : A young,
brilliant J. Robert Oppenheimer grapples with homesickness and anxiety at the
Cavendish Laboratory under Patrick Blackett, a demanding tutor, for whom he
leaves a poisoned apple. A visiting Niels Bohr almost eats it, but Oppenheimer
stops him in time. After completing his Ph.D. in physics at the University of
Göttingen, he returns to the United States, driven by the absence of research
on quantum physics. He starts teaching at the University of California,
Berkeley, while also dedicating time to the California Institute of Technology.
Along the way, he encounters significant figures like Ernest Lawrence, the 1939
Nobel Prize winner who emphasizes the importance of practical applications;
Jean Tatlock, a member of the Communist Party USA with whom he has an
on-and-off romantic relationship until her eventual suicide; and ex-Communist
biologist Katherine Puening, whom he later marries.
General Leslie Groves
approaches Oppenheimer and requests his involvement in the development of the
atomic bomb, known as the Manhattan Project, but only after Oppenheimer assures
him of having no sympathies for communism. Consequently, Oppenheimer assembles
a team of scientists to work together in secret and create the atomic bomb in
Los Alamos, New Mexico, aiming to use it as a means to save the world despite
the concerns about the potential global repercussions; in particular, the
danger of the Nazis and their antisemitism drives the Jewish Oppenheimer. At
one point, he and renowned physicist Albert Einstein discuss the possibility of
the bomb triggering a chain reaction that could lead to catastrophic
consequences and potentially the end of the world.
Julius Robert Oppenheimer
[22.4.1904- 18.2.1967] was an American theoretical physicist and director of
the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II. He is often credited as the
"father of the atomic bomb" for his role in organizing the Manhattan
Project, the research and development undertaking that created the first
nuclear weapons. Born to German Jewish immigrants in New York City,
Oppenheimer earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Harvard University in
1925 and a PhD in physics from the University of Göttingen in Germany in 1927.
After research at other institutions, he joined the physics department at the
University of California, Berkeley, where he became a full professor in 1936.
On July 16, 1945, he was present at the first test of the atomic bomb, Trinity.
In August 1945, the weapons were used against Japan in the bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which remain the only use of nuclear weapons in an
armed conflict.
In 1947, Oppenheimer became the
director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and
chaired the influential General Advisory Committee of the newly created United
States Atomic Energy Commission.
How the movie unfolds remains to be seen but his
personal life was full of twists too !!
The
Manhattan Project was top secret and did not become public knowledge until
after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Oppenheimer became a national
spokesman for science who was emblematic of a new type of technocratic power.
He became a household name and his portrait appeared on the covers of Life and
Time. Nuclear physics became a powerful
force as all governments of the world began to realize the strategic and
political power that came with nuclear weapons.
But, FBI under J. Edgar Hoover had been following
Oppenheimer since before the war, when he showed Communist sympathies as a
professor at Berkeley and had been close to members of the Communist Party,
including his wife and brother. They strongly suspected that he himself was a
member of the party, based on wiretaps in which party members referred to him
or appeared to refer to him as a communist, as well as reports from informers
within the party. The FBI furnished
Oppenheimer's political enemies with evidence that intimated communist ties. In 1954, Strauss pressed for Oppenheimer's security
clearance to be revoked.
Earlier,in
June 1949, Oppenheimer testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee
that he had associations with the Communist Party USA in the 1930s. Frank
Oppenheimer and his wife Jackie testified before HUAC that they had been
members of the Communist Party USA. Frank was subsequently fired from his
University of Minnesota position. Unable to find work in physics for many
years, he became a cattle rancher in Colorado. He later taught high school
physics and was the founder of the San Francisco Exploratorium. In 1953, United
States Congress Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, sent Hoover a letter saying
that "more probably than not J. Robert Oppenheimer is an agent of the
Soviet Union." On December 21,
1953, Strauss told Oppenheimer that his security clearance had been suspended,
pending resolution of a series of charges outlined in a letter, and discussed
his resigning by way of requesting termination of his consulting contract with
the AEC. The hearing that followed in
April–May 1954, was held in secret, focused on Oppenheimer's past communist
ties and his association during the Manhattan Project with suspected disloyal
or communist scientists.
Years after
his birth, in Dec 2022, United States Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm vacated
the 1954 revocation of Oppenheimer's security clearance.
Oppenheimer
was a chain smoker and was diagnosed with throat cancer in late 1965. After
inconclusive surgery, he underwent unsuccessful radiation treatment and chemotherapy
late in 1966. He fell into a coma and died at his home in Princeton, New
Jersey, on February 18, 1967 aged 62.
Long story of a
great personality who was hailed as father of Technological warfare ! but was condemned to be a traitor .. .. and
posthumously remembered as one who loved his Nation.
With regards
– S. Sampathkumar
24.7.2023
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