〈 Chapter１〉 "Oppenheimer" is not only describing the threat of nuclear weapons.
〈 a 〉 Reading many the mediocre interpretations of Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer really bores me. Almost all of them show similar interpretations and nothing exciting. It would not be fun to watch Nolan's film with the viewpoint that could only elicit such a simplistic interpretation. So this article will be interpreted in the more stimulating and philosophical way that is rarely seen elsewhere.
〈 b 〉 The first thing to emphasize here is that this is not the educational film that appeals to the world about the threat of nuclear weapons. No matter how much Nolan uses that as a pretext, we must realize that this is not the core of the film. Because many people are unable to think about this, this film was judged to offend the feelings of the Japanese people in the Atomic Bomb victim nation, and the release of the film in Japan was postponed.
Certainly, we know that the A-bomb damage experience is the opportunity for peace that Japan can speak of among other countries in the world. Just as the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organization was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024. However, it is wrong to say that the film is insufficient because the A-bomb damage is not directly depicted in the film. Anyone who has seen his previous works should know that Nolan's films cannot be interpreted in such a simple way. Such an interpretation shows no respect for Nolan's work. Such an interpretation is simply thoughtless.
〈 Chapter２〉 Evil in the characters of Nolan's films
〈 a 〉 The hidden core of Nolan's previous films is the theme of Evil. Nolan will probably never talk about this Evil, but if you look closely at his previous films, you will notice that there are characters, whether they are main characters or supporting characters, whose actions are driven by Evil.
〈 b 〉 For example, Nolan's “Batman Trilogy” is so fascinating not because Batman is the hero with a simple sense of justice, but because there is the certain malice lurking within Batman, like the Joker. Even if it is to maintain order in Gotham City, Batman continues to waver inside, wondering if killing evil people like the Joker is really justice. Batman has the logic for killing for justice, while the Joker has the logic for killing for evil. The two share that logic for killing, though in different vectors. Yes, Nolan's Batman is infinitely closer to evil and stained black. He is infinitely closer to the Joker.
〈 c 〉 Such Evil has already been secretly depicted in “Memento ( 2000 )". To some extent, this is consistent, and even though he deals with different themes in each of his films, he always includes elements of it. Even “Interstellar ( 2014 )”, which at first glance seems to have no antagonist, has a character with malicious intent, Dr. Mann, played by Matt Damon.
〈 d 〉 In this way, the character in “Oppenheimer” who plays the role of evil is none other than Oppenheimer himself. It is important to note here that Nolan does not portray evil clearly so that we, the audience, can see it. It is always ambiguous and depicted in such a way that only those who can see through it can understand it.
〈 e 〉 This approach is probably intentional. It is based on Nolan's observation that Evil does not exist in humans by itself, but is intricately intertwined with various psychological elements such as goodwill, morality, ethics, and ambition, and sometimes reveals its true nature. Evil hides behind various psychological elements and uses them craftily to fulfill its own desire.
〈 f 〉 So in watching this Nolan film, We have to be careful. At first glance, Oppenheimer seems to be limited to the passive subjectivity at the mercy of fate, such as regretting the development of the atomic bomb and being confused when interrogated about betrayal of the country due to suspicion of being a Soviet spy.
〈 g 〉 But this is not the case, and at the last part ( 1～6 ) of the film Oppenheimer is actually implied as the man with the hidden active subjectivity, the man who has found secret satisfaction in the omnipotence of evil, that is, in the destruction of the world. Oppenheimer says very frightening things at the end of his conversation with Einstein. He says, he believes scientists have destroyed the world ( 6 ). Needless to say, it goes without saying that he and other scientists are subjects of that destructive act.
In other words, he is saying that only scientists would have been able to destroy the world.
〈 h 〉 This is quite cleverly drawn here, as always with Nolan's works. From this point on, we must think carefully. What Nolan is trying to imply in this last part ( 1～6 ) of the film is not that the real Oppenheimer was such a person, but rather, how human beings themselves are evil beings that cleverly hide their malice through the figure of Oppenheimer.
〈 i 〉 In this last part, Nolan is not trying to discredit Oppenheimer or the scientists, but to secretly expose that humans are evil beings with hidden malice. Nolan did not attempt to depict Oppenheimer as a scientist with a simple idea, but rather he depicted the story concerning Oppenheimer as maximizing human malice in the act of developing nuclear weapons that massacre humans.
〈 j 〉 Considering the above story, it can be speculated that “TENET”, in which the theme is the struggle for plutonium, is derivation from the concept of this work, “Oppenheimer”. Of course, “TENET ( 2020 )” was released first, but if “Oppenheimer ( 2023 )” was conceived first, Nolan may have played the interesting game with the order of release of his films. It is the play on the time reversal trick Nolan likes to use, which is common in “Memento” and “TENET,” in which one can go back in time from “TENET” to “Oppenheimer” to arrive at the truth of the production.
〈 k 〉 When "TENET" was released, it was understood that TENET was the palindrome, but where the word came from was a mystery. Some people thought it was the reference to "the 10-minute memory loss trick" in Memento, but after seeing Oppenheimer, it seems likely that it could be TNT, which is used as the conversion symbol for the amount of energy released in explosion. In fact, the word TNT appears several times in the film.
〈 END 〉
