Note: This writeup has no spoilers
Flashback
Does light consist of waves or particles? How can it be both?
It is an astounding aspect of nature that I tried to understand when I borrowed a copy of The Feynman’s Lectures on Physics from my teacher, Mr Sridhara (who is now a good friend). He was a very patient man, and he spent time with me showing rays on the spectrometer and debating these topics as a teenager.
I was the kind of guy who spent more time with teachers and less time with friends. Honestly, I don’t have a solid friendship with a school friend now. I am not even part of the school WhatsApp group.
These nerdy pursuits during my formative years improved my general intelligence at the cost of poor social and emotional intelligence. (Trust me, it was so bad that I couldn’t even ask my high school crush out for a date. Also, I wasn’t good-looking.). My interest in the topic somehow faded after I joined undergrad.
But I’m still fascinated.
Duality
The wave-particle duality does extend beyond this. Can a man be logical and emotional? Can you embrace morality and immorality at the same time? Can a person be a god and a monster simultaneously? Can one be smart at work and dumb in love?
These questions arise when an intelligent person watches Nolan’s latest movie, Oppenheimer. If you’re dumb or average, you will sleep during the movie like the spoiled rich kids of Delhi who sat next to me in the theatres.
The Trigger
I first became interested in the movie when casually scanning the newspaper at a cafe and listening to old Hindi songs after a good workout. The article said that the book on which the movie is based, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, was written over 25 years.
The author Martin Sherwin poured over 50,000 pages of interviews, transcripts, letters, diaries, declassified documents and F.B.I. dossiers as per a NY article. The author won a Pulitzer prize. I was floored by the effort that had gone beyond this book.
One of the titles brainstormed for the great scientist’s biography was Oppie. Thankfully, the title was vetoed by the author’s editor. One can make fun of Oppo phones, but they would sell more if they called in Oppies in future.
I saw the trailer only on the next day. I was impressed. But I had still not made any plans to watch the movie.
But on a quiet Thursday night, I decided to watch the movie on the first day of its release in India. Most of the screens had been fully booked, so I took the 10.15 slot (it was new since I usually sleep around this time) at the nearest theatre. And I remember someone mentioning a screen in Delhi with an attached bar.
I packed two new experiences into one night for the sake of Nolan.
An Ambiguous Parallel
I hate the sound of popcorn crunching when I am seriously watching something. Thankfully, the person beside me didn’t crunch too much, or I would have turned violent.
In the first few scenes, there is a reference to the Greek god Prometheus. We studied a bit of Greek history in the 6th or 7th standard. But Greek mythology is not my forte (I remember bits and pieces of Greco-Persian Wars, though).
Prometheus was the Greek god who handed over fire to humanity, much against the wishes of other gods. And as a punishment, he was tied to a rock. The movie doesn’t mention that Zeus’ eagle ate his liver. At the movie's end, you feel the American deep state ate the great scientist’s metaphorical liver.
The parallels between the Greek god and Oppenheimer are quite ambiguous. The fire led to improvement in the lives of humanity. However, nuclear weapons, though one might claim that they have ushered in peace, have also caused more problems and instilled fear in people's hearts for seven decades during the second world war.
The only thing preventing a large-scale war is a principle called MAD or mutually assured destruction. I read much about it when I picked a dusty book from a public library. It’s like having knives at each other’s throats to prevent murder.
The Aesthetic
Nolan has used several techniques to sharpen visual storytelling. His switching between colour and black & white narration is a case in point. In addition to it, he paces the story perfectly and heightens the tension with an appropriate background score.
Where worlds and music don’t do justice to the story, he distorts the character’s universe while showing different views of the character and the remaining actors on the screen. He does not micromanage these things in his shoots.
His demi-god status in the movie universe is underlined by the fact that Matt Damon made an exception for him while promising a career break to his wife at couple’s therapy. Even big players like Robert Downey Jr are willing to shed their hunger for the central role to serve his grand visions.
Many say that the Trinity test (or the moment where the bomb was tested) was the turning point and a key moment in the movie. The movie's peak moment is when Oppie’s partner asks him to read Sanskrit in bed. It is now my top kink which I am currently manifesting. (This is not a spoiler but an admission of my weirdness).
All actors in the movie have brought in their best selves. There is no point in dissecting their performances with cliche adjectives used by average copy-paste movie reviewers.
The Contradiction
I am not sure if Prometheus had qualms about sharing technology with mankind. But Oppenheimer sure as hell had his reservations.
He was ruthless and wise in understanding that one has to prevent a sure-shot maniac from getting dangerous weapons before a flawed but temperamental politician can use them for their power games. It’s the kind of decision that all great men have to make, and I am somewhat relieved that he had the stomach to pull through at the right moment.
He probably imagined himself standing confused with Arjuna before Krishna in The Gita. But he came through and changed history. And that is what matters.
Of course, this is not a review but rather a debrief after a sleepless night, followed by reflections before and after I watched the movie. If the opportunity presents itself, I’d love to watch it in greater detail again.