What did Oppenheimer say to Einstein?
nme.comChristopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer has been met with rave reviews – but what was the significance of the film’s final scene?The movie stars Cillian Murphy as Robert J.
Oppenheimer, the real-life American physicist who played a pivotal role in the creation of the atomic bomb. The ensemble cast also includes Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, and Florence Pugh.Although different from much of Nolan’s previous work, in that it’s the director’s first biographical drama about a real historical figure, Oppenheimer still features all the hallmarks of his signature filmmaking style, including the use of non-linear storytelling.With the film unfolding across multiple timelines, some viewers may be left confused about the significance of the movie’s closing scenes – namely, the final conversation between Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein (Tom Conti).Towards the end of the first act, Oppenheimer approaches Einstein at a pond and the two exchange an unheard conversation.
It’s only in the film’s final scene that we discover what was said.Firstly, though, it’s important to understand why their mysterious conversation plays such a pivotal role in the story.Rather than ending with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the film’s final act is predominately focused on Oppenheimer’s security hearings, which had been set in motion by Lewis Strauss (Downey Jr.) in an attempt to have the physicist’s clearance revoked.Later, Strauss’s own motivations for wanting to bring down Oppenheimer are made clear.
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