Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer in the Christopher Nolan film
Image: Universal Pictures
Awe and terror, beauty and horror: Christopher Nolan in conversation about his new film “Oppenheimer”, which tells of the “father of the atomic bomb”.
He remains one of the most controversial figures in modern history and science. The brilliant American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer played a key role in the development of the first atomic bomb in Los Alamos from 1943 onwards. After the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he spoke out against any further deployment. Now an eagerly awaited biopic is coming to the cinemas, directed by the British Christopher Nolan, who has made such spectacular films as “Tenet” (2020), “Dunkirk” (2017) or “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012).
Mr. Nolan, how did you go about portraying a deeply ambivalent character like Oppenheimer? Did you first have to develop your own moral point of view in order to then be able to deal with it artistically as a filmmaker?