Based on the life of American theoretical physicist J.Robert Oppenheimer, the eponymous film explores his invention of the atomic bomb – and the implications of creating such a deadly weapon. But who was the real Robert Oppenheimer? Here, we explore the true story behind the film.
Heavily based on "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer" by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin, the movie stays pretty faithful to the man's eventful, unusual life. But that doesn't mean there aren't some exaggerations or inconsistencies.
As Einstein turns to leave, Oppenheimer calls his name. “When I came to you with those calculations,” he says. “We thought we might start a chain reaction that would destroy the entire world.” “I remember it well,” Einstein replies.
Is the Oppenheimer movie based on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Oppenheimer — which won seven Academy Awards earlier this month, including best picture — does not directly depict what happened on the ground when the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, instead focusing on J. Robert Oppenheimer as a person and his internal conflicts.
As such, his inclusion made a clear statement that Dr. Oppenheimer's scientific work was profound enough – in the eyes of President John F. Kennedy – that he should be held up in the same regard as those who did win Nobel Prizes.
Everything Oppenheimer Gets Right And Wrong About The True Story
What happened to Oppenheimer's children?
Soon after his father died, Peter permanently moved to northern New Mexico to live at a residence his father had purchased years earlier, the Perro Caliente ranch, according to the AHF. According to the AHF, Peter still lives in New Mexico working as a carpenter and has three children: Dorothy, Charles and Ella.
Briefed with weaponising atomic energy, the 38-year-old Oppenheimer was chosen by General Leslie Groves to head up the project's secret research laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and oversaw the development of the world's first atomic weapons between 1943-45.
It appears to be due to the sensitive nature of the film's topic in the country where the atomic bombs J. Robert Oppenheimer helped build killed some 200,000 people in August 1945 and led to Japan's surrender in World War II.
Albert Einstein plays a significant role in the Christopher Nolan film, "Oppenheimer." In reality, Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer knew each other but weren't friends until much later. The real Einstein wouldn't have helped Oppenheimer with top-secret calculations about the atomic bomb.
Truman did call Oppenheimer a 'crybaby scientist' but not directly or during the depicted event. Events in Oppenheimer film differed slightly from historical reality, adding drama to the scene. Nolan clarified Truman's remark as a response to Oppenheimer expressing guilt post-atomic bombings.
Oppenheimer met Einstein for the first time in January 1932 when the latter visited Caltech as part of his round-the-world trip during 1931-32. In 1939, Einstein published a paper that argued against the existence of Black holes. Einstein used his own general theory of relativity to arrive at this conclusion.
Most theorists peg Einstein's IQ score between 160-190. Because he never took any kind of test to measure his intelligence, the definite score is still a mystery.
Oppenheimer's IQ is 135. This estimation assumes he would be among the top 1% of living physicists during his era. The estimation follows the methods and assumptions utilized for Albert Einstein, offering a credible insight into Oppenheimer's intellectual caliber.
Though a scene in Oppenheimer shows the young theoretical physicist poisoning an apple on his Cambridge professor's desk with potassium cyanide only to correct his mistake the following day, Oppenheimer's grandson Charles told TIME the incident is untrue.
Oppenheimer asks Einstein if he recalls when they worried a chain reaction from the bomb might destroy the world; Einstein remembers. “I believe we did,” Oppenheimer replies. Though the exchange came from Nolan's imagination, it really ends the movie with a bang. This article has been updated.
Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer, born Katherine Puening (1910-1972) was a German-American botanist and wife of Los Alamos Scientific Director J. Robert Oppenheimer.
I was relieved to find it is largely historically accurate and although a few factual distortions creep in, they aren't huge. The moral quandaries faced by Robert Oppenheimer and the other physicists on the Manhattan project are handled well – this is no glorification of the bomb.
Kunetka says the simplest explanation is that before World War II, Oppenheimer's published work was not considered significant enough. Carr agrees, adding that Oppenheimer never made a major discovery, nor did he ever prove a significant theory.
He pointed out that the scientist had a slim frame due to his diet, which meant losing weight. "I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and tailoring," he said. "He was very slim, almost emaciated, existed on martinis and cigarettes."
Oppenheimer is a 2023 epic biographical thriller drama film written, directed, and produced by Christopher Nolan. It follows the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who helped develop the first nuclear weapons during World War II.
Many users said they would boycott the movie because of what one nationalist group called a "scathing attack on Hinduism". The scene features the protagonist reciting a verse from the Bhagawad Gita, considered the holiest of Hindu scriptures, just before sexual intercourse.
Oppenheimer has three living grandchildren from Peter named Dorothy, Charles, and Ella. None of Peter's children ever had the opportunity to meet their notorious grandfather, however, Charles has recently raised concerns about some of Oppenheimer's factual errors after the film's release.
Two years after Robert's death in 1967, Toni was rejected from a role in the United Nations as a translator. She struggled to cope with losing her father, and her job, and after living on the island of St. John for a while, she died by suicide in January 1977, just a month after she turned 32.
Soon after his father died, Peter permanently moved to northern New Mexico to live at a residence his father had purchased years earlier, the Perro Caliente ranch, according to the AHF. According to the AHF, Peter still lives in New Mexico working as a carpenter and has three children: Dorothy, Charles and Ella.
