The Trinity test scene was made with a mix of real and digital effects. “I knew from the very beginning that the Trinity nuclear test would be one of the most important scenes in this movie,” Nolan said.
“I once staged a nuclear explosion with computer graphics in ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ and it impressed viewers. But at the same time it also showed me that with a real event like Trinity, which has been carefully documented by modern cameras, computer graphics will never give viewers the same horror as watching real footage ever recorded. That’s the challenge.”
The team performed many realistic explosions, combining gasoline, propane, aluminum and magnesium on the model. The experiments – slamming ping-pong balls, knocking paint against walls, concocting glowing magnesium solutions – were recorded with a small digital camcorder in super close-up and in multiple scales. different frames.
They were shot at high speed from multiple angles, then layered with digital effects to create the historic “mushroom cloud”.
At the end of the film, physicist Enrico Fermi comes to see the Trinity test. Fermi is best known for the Fermi Paradox, a thought experiment that questions why humans have never observed evidence of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. One possible reason for this is that any sufficiently intelligent species is capable of wiping out its own species through acts of self-destruction. The creation of nuclear weapons, especially when Edward Teller and other physicists feared the fission bomb they were building could incinerate the planet, was one of those “Great Filter” moments. like that in human history.
Cosmic black holes also have a “cameo” in the movie
In addition to his achievements in making atomic bombs, Oppenheimer is also known for his research work related to the universe. His contributions to astrophysics include groundbreaking predictions about cosmic objects. His most notable prediction came in 1939 when he co-wrote a paper titled “On Continued Gravitational Contraction” that foretold the existence of black holes.
The original article was omitted. Oppenheimer said the mathematical formulas for his quantum theory and the connection with “dark stars” (black holes) could be verified by an astronomer.
That person was later to be Stephen Hawking, the eminent mathematician and astrophysicist whose research and theoretical data later became the basis for Christopher Nolan’s film Interstellar (2014).
The participation of an actor with a special background
Christopher Nolan has assembled a star-studded cast of well-known talents to the public. Oppenheimer’s cast includes five Oscar winners (Sir Kenneth Branagh, Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Casey Affleck, and Gary Oldman) and three Oscar nominees (Robert Downey Jr., Tom Conti, and Florence Pugh).
Christopher Nolan’s daughter (red shirt, middle of the photo) participated in a special scene of the movie
And in a movie filled with an all-star cast, to give the audience the best experience, even the extras are carefully planted by the director.
A special cameo in the film comes in the haunting scene where Oppenheimer is greeted by the people of Los Alamos seemingly “celebrating” the two bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In the commotion, the scientist was dumbfounded as he envisioned the human destinies suffered as a result of his own research. In it, a young woman was stripped of her facial skin. This role is played by Flora Nolan – daughter of Christopher Nolan.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Nolan spoke of this actor choice, commenting: “If you create the ultimate destructive power, it will also destroy those close and dear to you. I think this is the most powerful way I can show it.”
Filmed right where the two geniuses used to work together
In the last stages of his life, Albert Einstein openly considered Oppenheimer a fool for his support of the Atomic Energy Commission. The two historical giants first met during Oppenheimer’s graduate studies at the University of Göttingen in the 1920s.
At the time, Einstein was a famous physicist and a leading figure in theoretical physics. Oppenheimer and Einstein recognized the moral complexity of their scientific advances and were concerned about the development of nuclear weapons.
They share common interests on political and social issues, especially their support for nuclear disarmament and international cooperation. Despite their common goals and cooperation, Oppenheimer and Einstein had different views on a number of scientific and political issues.
The film was also filmed at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) at Princeton University where Oppenheimer and Einstein worked together after World War II, using the IAS building where Oppenheimer had previously served as Director. governor.
