Terrin Bergschneider
Oppenheimer: The Best Of Its Time
Introduction To Cinema
Professor Fisher
May 3rd, 2024
“[This is} a new way to understand reality…Now we are peering through, seeing a world
inside our world.” While an excerpt from Niel Bohr’s lecture on quantum physics, this can also
be applied to studying film. Through looking at a film analytically, it is possible to see more than
just a piece of entertainment. The use of cinematographic aspects, such as exposure and framing,
as well as aspects of mise-en-scene like lighting and staging, come together to create a
captivating film intended to make the audience think at a deeper level than just another
blockbuster film.
Firstly, the movie Oppenheimer has three distinct parts that use these aspects of
cinematography and mise-en-scene. The first is the prologue, opening the movie with the sight of
rain falling against a body of water. It’s shot at an extreme close up with a deep depth of field,
this depth of field switching to a much shallower one when the camera cuts to a young
Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) staring at the forming puddle. Rainfall becomes a recurring motif
in the story as the audience is shown more shots throughout the film with rain falling against a
body of water. This motif is an anti-thesis to the very project Oppenheimer works on, as water is
subtle and life-supporting, a stark contrast to the sudden and life-destroying impacts of an atomic
bomb. His staring at the water is then interrupted by the whirring visuals of atoms and sudden
explosions which further adds to the contrast between the bomb and the water. Lighting also adds
to this contrast, as any lighting is incredibly muted until the visuals of the atoms and explosions
come on screen. The explosions get brighter as the prologue goes on until the screen becomes
engulfed in flames. During these flames, text appears on the screen. The text reads “Prometheus
stole fire from the gods and gave it to man. For this, he was chained to a rock and tortured for
eternity”. It foreshadows what’s to come, as Oppenheimer would only go on to be constantly
punished for his beliefs after aiding his country in developing a weapon capable of stopping the
worst war ever to occur at this point in history.
The second part of Oppenheimer to focus on is part one, Fission. All of Fission is shot in
color and starts as an older Oppenheimer opens his eyes before his Atomic Energy Commission
(AEC) hearing regarding the possible renewal of his government-granted security clearance. This
hearing takes place in 1954, with flashbacks during his testimony of his whole life dating as far
back as 1927. The film returns to a shallow depth of field as Oppenheimer rejoins reality to start
the hearing. Fission and the coordinating part two, Fusion, work in tandem with each other and
are parallels of each other Lighting and coloring are different between the segments just like the
difference in whose perspective the segment is shown from. Fission is entirely from
Oppenheimer’s perspective with near-constant shallow depth of field and muted lighting. This
muted lighting is colder in tone when Oppenheimer starts recounting the early days of his life’s
story, showing his displeasure with being overseas for his postgraduate education. It highlights
how he couldn’t get any sleep while being trapped in his own mind. He was “…homesick,
emotionally immature, [and] troubled by visions of a hidden universe (Oppenheimer to AEC
interviewers).” His behavior, as portrayed by Cillian Murphy also reflects one who is reckless
and unable to process what is going on. He’s constantly exhausted by attempting to learn physics
in a laboratory setting and by trying to work with Patrick Blackett (James D’Arcy), his mentor
who does not care for him. Oppenheimer’s staging starts to become more hectic and excited once
he goes to poison Blackett’s apple and head to a guest lecture given by Niels Bohr (Kenneth
Branagh). The next morning, Oppenheimer rushes to dispose of the poisoned apple. He rushes to
Blackett’s lab and comes face-to-face with Bohr. The lighting becomes brighter as Oppenheimer
is now gaining important advice to help him find where to properly study theoretical physics.
Blackett and Nohr agree that Oppenheimer should go to Göttingen and study under Max Born.
Once Oppenheimer is asked if he can “hear the music”, the movie enters a sequence intermixing
close ups of both Oppenheimer and his new surroundings. The shots go by faster as this
sequence goes on, also matching Oppenheimer’s more passionate movements. The movements
and behaviors show how happy Oppenheimer is to be studying what he wants to. Lighting is
brighter and cooler as natural lighting is ample on campus. This only changes after Oppenheimer
meets Isidor Rabi (David Krumholtz). When meeting him on a train ride, the lighting is warmer.
The warmer lighting symbolizes Oppenheimer being able to make his first real friend since
having come overseas. It also is the first intimate one-on-one conversation Oppenheimer has.
This type of lighting almost becomes unescapable throughout more of Fission’s sequences with
Oppenheimer becoming involved in more intimate parties and conversations. Lighting stays lowkey and eventually becomes so drastic that it creates the Chiaroscuro effect while Oppenheimer
talks to Kitty (Emily Blunt) as they subtly flirt with each other as Oppenheimer attempts to
explain physics to Kitty. Low-key lighting is recurring in both Fission and Fusion, and in the
moments when the lighting switches to high key, it can be drastic and jarring. The low-key
lighting becomes darker again as Oppenheimer goes to ask his friend Chevalier (Jefferson Hall)
for childcare help. Once he reaches Chevalier, the lighting brightens and warms, alluding to the
connection between Oppenheimer and Chevalier. The lighting drastically shifts to high key when
Oppenheimer finds his passion project within the Manhattan Project where he can build a town
and lab for the theoretical division of the Project. He builds it in Los Alamos so he can finally
achieve his vision of a perfect life where he was able to mix physics and New Mexico. Both the
lighting and staging shows how Oppenheimer originally trusted Chevalier before Chevalier
implicitly suggests committing treason so that the Russians can also have intel on the atomic
bomb. Chevalier acts incredibly casual with the suggestion, appearing as if he wants to seduce
Oppenheimer into handing over the information on the Project. Without a second thought,
Oppenheimer shuts down the conversation due to knowing that committing treason could ruin
his life’s work within seconds. The audience later sees the same AEC meeting from Fusion in
Fission, seeing Robert’s perspective where the negative effects of the hydrogen bomb are
discussed. In Fusion’s version of events, the development of the H-bomb is portrayed as a very
black-and-white decision. Fission shows the development as a weapon unworthy of creation
because being greater than the capacity of ending warfare. Rabi, a fellow physicist, points out
that the H-bomb is a weapon of mass genocide that cannot be defended against. During
Oppenheimer’s speech after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he is once again troubled
by visions. Instead of visions of a hidden universe, light flashes and the audience sees gruesome
visions of the effects of the bombings. Oppenheimer’s face is clearly troubled as the images
continue to be overexposed and the people watching his speech flash out of sight. His panic
attack stemming from what has happened becomes riddled with troubling imagery, such as a
burnt carcass of a human body, a sobbing woman, distorted screams, and the depth of field being
incredibly shallow around him. The shallow depth of field shows the audience how trapped he is
within his mind, as he feels an incredible amount of remorse for what power he has helped
unleash against the world. He further sees these troubling visions after leaving the celebration of
the bombing, visualizing a boy throwing up from radiation poisoning. The boy looks at
Oppenheimer with a face of despair, quietly asking Oppenheimer “why have you done this”?
Oppenheimer’s face then blurs into a dark screen until he is seen again in President Truman’s
(Gary Oldman) office. He begs for his remorse to be understood and Truman refuses to care, just
like the rest of the government. The US government never cared about Oppenheimer as a person,
just as an instrument to figure out how to win a war. This is further shown in Oppenheimer’s
treatment during the AEC hearing in which the final result is Oppenheimer losing his security
clearance.
Lastly, being Fission’s antithesis, Fusion is shot entirely in black and white. The story is
now no longer told by Oppenheimer himself, instead it is told by the man we are to see as his
main adversary. Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr,) is first introduced at the beginning of Fusion
as he prepares to go through with his Senate confirmation hearing to get the post of Secretary of
Commerce. These hearings happened in 1959, five years after the AEC stripped Oppenheimer of
his security clearance. Strauss’ mindset is that he always does what he must do. He also sees the
world in a black and white view like that of how Fusion is filmed. This mindset causes him to
clash with Oppenheimer who does not see the world in the same way. Lighting also stays
stagnant like Strauss’ inner monologue. He’s portrayed to have a fixed mindset that villainizes
Oppenheimer due to disagreeing on how the development of the atomic bomb was handled and
whether the H-bomb should ever be built. At first, he does not admit to even knowing who
caused Oppenheimer to lose his security clearance. The lighting darkens in the clips where the
name of William Borden (David Dastmalchian) is offered. Strauss then moves to deny that he
knows anything about how Borden would be able to create such a detailed indictment of
Oppenheimer. Later, Strauss speaks with his aide as to how Oppenheimer was constantly under
surveillance yet would not stop speaking his mind about how to handle things after Hiroshima
and Nagasaki. He believes that Oppenheimer was acting as if his fame from being the father of
the atomic bomb was able to help protect him for the following aftermath. Scientists blamed
Strauss for not protecting Oppenheimer from the souring court of public opinion and he refused
to take accountability for this. He fully blames Oppenheimer for his own downfall. Strauss also
blames Oppenheimer for his own downfall, as Oppenheimer always spoke out against Strauss.
He also acts as if he doesn’t know how to get ahead in Washington, following any advice from
his aide. His aide picks up on the fact that Strauss isn’t as dumb as he first appears while the
shadows on Strauss’ face overpower the light on it. It becomes revealed that Stauss gave the FBI
file on Oppenheimer to Strauss as part of a scheme to silence Oppenheimer. Stauss plans out the
entire affair meticulously and his staging becomes clear as a morally grey antagonist against
Oppenheimer. The sequence of events is also shown from Oppenheimer’s point of view as by
this point in the movie Fission and Fusion are unable to be unwound from each other. The
lighting and coloration become more muted, and Oppenheimer is rarely seen outside of a shallow
depth of field. He’s even more trapped in his mind now that his life is falling apart. During more
of Stauss’ confirmation hearing, Dr. David Hill (Rami Malek) testifies against Strauss’
confirmation by starting his statement by mentioning Strauss being personally vindictive against
Oppenheimer. Stauss hiding how vindictive and rageful he is stops as soon as a scientist speaks
against him. Stauss believes he should be thanked for saving Oppenheimer’s reputation as the
father of the atomic bomb and not the person behind Hiroshima and Nagasaki and has his
outburst right before finding out that he did not earn the appointment to Secretary of Commerce.
In conclusion, aspects of mise-en-scene and cinematography come together to create a
cinematic masterpiece. Oppenheimer would not be as interesting or critically acclaimed as it
currently is if it wasn’t for the attention given to the aspects of staging, lighting, farming, and
exposure. The attention to these details warrants the movie being called “one of the best movies
of the century (Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times).”
(Note: that last quote is literally on the DVD box to the movie)