How Oppenheimer Changes the Nolan Universe

[@ChongTeeLim]

Reminds me of why I fell in love with Wisecrack almost a decade ago. Thanks for breaking down Oppenheimer and using the chain-reaction/nuclear fission analogy to deconstruct the show. Jared you're a gem and I'm glad that you're still doing this even after moving to Helsinki

[@JaredBauer]

Thanks so much!

[@quizzten5654]

I would argue that the scene where we dont get to see the images portrays Oppenheimer in denial, he literally looks away from the images quite literally trying to push away the visions of his deeds, which resurface in multiple scenes where people have burnt skin etc. Great review as always!

[@JaredBauer]

Good point!

[@corneliusmaze-eye2459]

I'm glad they didn't show the bombings, because its been depicted enough in other media. Furthermore, if the victory speech scene doesn't convey the horror of the bombs enough, then no real footage will convince you of their evil.

[@T_Dot94]

barefoot gen has a terrifying depiction of the atomic bomb

[@YTwoKay]

Agreed completely, Jared. So far you're the only critic I've heard that's on this wavelength about the film and it's examination of praxis and the contradictions behind Oppy's words and actions. My question after all this is: will Nolan now "walk the walk" of praxis. IS Oppenheimer a work of ideological human will? If so, why does Nolan seem to say so little about art and images? Most of Nolan's movies comment metaphorically on the role of the writer/director to shape a work, why so shy with Oppenheimer? I did pick up on the obvious; however, Nolan's metaphor for the bomb's contemplation and creation as the construction of a script and its execution, film.

[@juliosister]

just commenting and liking for the algorithm

[@simeonmcgrath7276]

Same

[@MagnusWallentin]

Me three

[@FredEdeXIII]

I comment in solidarity

[@Nethershaw]

All glory to the hypnotoad.

[@freddie8561]

It knows!!!

[@thattimestampguy]

3:12 the consequences of his work, exceed his grasp 4:56 The Power and Primacy of Ideas 7:35 Bringing Ideas into Practice. 8:26 tragic prophet of the nuclear age 9:17 Knowledge of Destruction 10:36 Ideas 💡 come with Fire 🔥

[@ChrisGuerra31]

I appreciate the Prestige quote 👍

[@pdzombie1906]

Great video as usual, Jared!!! I absolutely think Nolan didn't need to portray the bombings, Oppenheimer's guilt extends beyond those tragedies and it would have been just exploitation. We can see the effect when he's delivering the speech: stepoing on a charred body, a woman's face peeling of, a couple crying, a man vomiimting as if poisoned by radiation... I wish you could talk about"Guilt" in Nolan's work. When you made a summary of his films, turns out that's a huge unspoken theme of his filmography: Lenny accidentaly kills his wife, in Insomnia Pacino's character shoots his partner, Bruce Wayne thinks it was his faukt his parents got shot, Cobb planted the seed of his wife's suicide, Cooper leaves Murph, etc. Thanks!!!

[@JaredBauer]

Thanks for the kind words. Although I think Lenny’s wife manipulates him in to killing her. A kind of perverse assisted suicide, but I guess it depends on how you frame it.

[@sirloin869]

"Orgy of talent": Perfect take, no notes...

[@ianlekeboam5346]

Jared once again I’ll say this I admire your exquisite analysis and clear and precise thought process. Please aid me in any literature that you’d consider shaped your thought process. Big fan from Uganda 🇺🇬

[@the_horror_fan]

Jared good talk. I think Tenet as weird a movie as it was, talk about how a rich guy use a bomb to destroy the world. Which is what Nolan movies do talk about. Nolan is about how we destroy the world physically or our own world mentally.

[@ChrisGuerra31]

I couldn't help but connect the final lines of Tenet referring to "The bomb that never went off" when I saw that Oppenheimer was his next project.

[@ccsmooth560]

There were 2 kinds of bombs, uranium & plutonium, which needed to be compared; the military needed to know how much destruction they could inflict on untouched cities (Hiroshima & Nagasaki were not fire bombed by conventional means, they were set aside for the atom bomb tests); and Russia needed to be made to think twice after having at the last minute entered the war against Japan to snap up territory in Asia. Moreover, the Hungarian Leo Szilard is the real father of the atom bomb. He used his friend Einstein's popularity to get funding for the Manhattan Project, then was tossed aside. Szilard zealously worked against the use of the bomb. And along with Szilard, the displaced dark skinned people for the Los Alamos labs is a more interesting story than Oppenheimer, whose theoretical work was not significant enough to win a Nobel; he was merely an adviser to Groves because he understood the science.

[@RedGulleem]

Oh man how I missed these analysis on movies. This and the one uploaded about barbie, all such unique takes and makes us really wonder and question things. I came out of the movie, even knowing his tragic story, without realizing most of the points you made. Love your work, sorry I can't support with money

[@cynical_insight]

Paraphrasing what Truman said in the movie: "Trinity was your work, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were my." So it makes sense that we see the trinity test but not hiroshima and nagasaki.

[@fell9654]

The Twin Peaks depiction of Trinity was better. Ironically the blast of Trinity in Oppenheimer was relatively quiet compared to the blaring sound and music in other parts of the movie.

[@ryandozier8053]

Ironically that’s by design

[@leandroarouca3033]

That Twin Peaks episode came to my mind during that sequence as well

[@DrBilly619]

I don’t think he was trying to be a martyr. He was just asking for forgiveness. Kitty says to him while he’s crying about Jean, “you don’t get to commit sin and have the world feel sorry for you.” This is emblematic of the bomb. Jean was the first casualty of the nuclear age in his mind. He wasn’t weeping for her he was weeping for all of us. By the end kitty says “do you think they’ll forgive you if you let them drag your name through the mud.” A martyr dies because they won’t renounce and idea or faith. Oppenheimer did renounce his ideas. He wanted the genie back in the bottle. He viewed himself as a bad guy and wanted forgiveness

[@DrBilly619]

The ending was just so cinematic so raw

[@ChrisGuerra31]

I was waiting for you to mention Twin Peaks haha! I couldn't get it out of my head during the Trinity test. Thanks for getting me to watch that show! Great job contextualizing Oppie with Nolan's previous work! I can't wait to see what he does next.

[@msjennifer6119]

11:43 I disagree. The decision to not let the audience see the images of nuclear fallout was probably made by the studio to keep the audience sympathetic to Oppenheimer.

[@belrapture]

Agree.

[@WJHDetroit]

Even though Oppenheimers grandson disputes the story about the Apple poisoning. I think that’s a great comparison with the Apple and regretting his decision as the same as the regret of building the bomb.

[@fell9654]

Nukes probably will doom humanity, there won't always be people with the tact of Stanislav Petrov

[@SuperLocrian]

Hey Now, Jared! Glad your still doing well! Watched until 2:30 - will watch the rest after I see the movie! Can hardly wait!

[@OoziHobo]

Jared is one of those people I can trust to have an insightful take whenever he makes a video. He doesn't ever disrespect my time in exchange for ad sense revenue.

[@jamesbourgeois1357]

Oppi had such a fascinating and tragic life.

[@Undergr0un7187]

Thanks for a fantastic review!

[@JaredBauer]

My pleasure!

[@jordanmw94]

So keen to see it in IMAX 1570, lucky that our IMAX Melbourne has the projector! Great video Jared

[@mentallychallenging]

nolan's obsession with ideas reminds me alot of david lynch and dreams

[@TheKeyser94]

It really changed how omitted the part that Oppenheimer felt not guilt whatsoever for all the millions of Japanese that die when the bombs drop, not guilt or remorse, now I understand his why he didn't want to speak about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, because Nolan basically make Oppenheimer a hero in this movie, even when he was persecuted, ho poor man, he felt so sad for creating the bomb, not because the millions of lives that those bomb take.

[@ccsmooth560]

The US fire bombed Tokyo to the ground using hundreds of planes. Nukes were more efficient.

[@comicbookguy83]

Funny you mention Fincher here. We all know Nolan is obsessed with time and I was surprised to see this film tackle it in the same fashion as The Social Network. Also I maybe late to the party here but it’s great to see you back again. Wisecrack kinda fell apart after you’re parting IMO.

[@jensphiliphohmann1876]

08:00 The horrifying consequences could be represented better by showing the GULAG rather than showing Stalin himself, I think

[@hongquiao]

I liked it.... But it felt like a ten episode mini-series condensed into a three hour movie... Or like a three hour montage. You know how they make foie gras? By stuffing the living shit out of geese using a funnel! I am the goose, "Oppenheimer" is the funnel, and Nolan is the farmer force-feeding me biographical info. To it's credit, I was never bored (pretty impressive considering it's length and my A.D.H.D) In fact, I often found myself wishing the movie would SLOW THE FUCK DOWN for a scene or two. (Also, that the score would let me hear the characters speak for fuck's sake.) Finally, the third act felt unecessarily long. But maybe that's because the stakes were not well defined (or maybe I'm just dumb?) Like, all those trials are about "renewing his security clearance" and I'm like: ........."Ok? What does that mean? Like, what happens if he doesn't get it?"

[@maxfli95]

Very good point about how Oppenheimer's love interests are an "afterthought" to his primary work. Especially his relationship to Tatlock, who in a way becomes victim to his naive and impulsive behaviour, is a compelling parallel to his approach in putting his scientific theory to praxis. While the female characters then get less screen time, it is notable how Pugh and Blunt have masterful performances that force viewers to consider the characters and the nuance in their emotion, as opposed to being reduced to stale tropes of women in cinema that exist as mere counterparts to Oppenheimer.

[@davorianware1382]

Another great video!

[@JaredBauer]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@xhxhhdbdb7765]

Love you Jared

[@zizuette]

Great vidéo. I would like to have seen an acknowledgement of the victims of the Trinity test. The New Mexicans who were ejected from their ancestral lands, lost their livestock, their livelihoods. Many died as a direct result and subsequent generations are still suffering from poisonous after effects of nuclear fallout. I don’t believe they received any compensation either. Now that would make a good movie.

[@kimballwolfs5863]

Liking commenting subscribing because I love Jared.

[@jqyhlmnp]

This is an Oppenheimer story, not a war story… that’s probably why they didn’t show the Japanese nor that suicide in full detail nor… etc.

[@Jdshald]

Great film. Great review. Read the book and this movie is one for the ages

[@noretornable55]

yeah

[@mentallychallenging]

wondered where you dissapeared to all this time, i wouldve been watching if id known you branched out on your own man

[@narsingdih]

Right on

[@Pandaemoni]

Can there be spoilers about a biopic of someone who died half a century ago? I think there some difference between the man (at least as depicted in the biographies I've read about him) and the character as depicted in the film, but the events are mostly correct (the material ones, like he did poison an apple) but some of the smaller details are wrong (or I am misremembering them). Interesting that there is both biblical and fairy tale allusions in the notion of the poisoned apple. It's wild that Oppenheimer actually did that and that somehow wasn't the end of career when he was caught. I guess you get one free attempted murder.

[@ccsmooth560]

The apple is such a silly pat analogy.

[@jensphiliphohmann1876]

Maybe the horror of the H bomb prevented a major hot world war.

[@uphillracer]

Hey jared! Always good to hear your takes

[@stephencshapiro]

You’ve taught me so much about film analysis and Nolan’s work over the years, I was primed for Oppenheimer. I just have to say I agree 💯 and I’m glad you enjoyed it as much as I did. Congratulation on getting married!

[@JaredBauer]

Thanks Stephen!

[@luujasonful]

10 of 10

[@kimballwolfs5863]

Very nice

[@JaredBauer]

Thanks!

[@reanetsemoleleki8219]

Showing the bombing of Hiroshima in the age of superhero films might have been tasteless.

[@indigosnow_]

hype! stoked to hear your thoughts

[@dounutkiller]

what a fantastic film, great thoughts as always

[@JaredBauer]

Thank you kindly!

[@LostWarriorPoet]

👊

[@phillipyangmusic]

Cool

[@LeAnwar1]

@7:57 corruption of his ideas. I know you are smart enough to know that Marx would be agast at what was being done in suppossed service to his writing.

[@JaredBauer]

I mentioned in another comment that this could have been worded better. My point is that Marx’s ideas evolved beyond his grasp, just like Oppenheimer’s

[@LeAnwar1]

@JaredBauer fair enough... I was afraid that perhaps you were taking the path to easy money

[@handsomestik]

No more Universes , no more of this Marvel garbage where this is connected to that. Studios followed along with this because of Marvel's success. No more Phases, just make films (even if they are stand alones) NO MORE UNIVERSES.

[@rycordova5957]

I didn’t like Oppenheimer. I think Nolan missed the bigger story.

[@VictorSneller]

Many people did not pick up on the Vishnu/Shiva symbology.

[@ChrisGuerra31]

I was considering this after leaving the theater. I suppose his reading the quote in the bedroom helped tie together the volatile nature of his actions (both in the bedroom and los alamos) foreshadowing the forthcoming disaster in both aspects of his life.

[@VictorSneller]

@@ChrisGuerra31 Creating and destroying worlds in the same act.

[@TheCyclingCardio]

I pick Interstellar as the best Nolan movie, theme wise

[@inexperiencedknife]

I feel like it didn't focus enough on the bomb and the ramifications of it. Not showing it actually dropping on a city was a real missed opportunity.

[@abishaipaul2298]

I don't think that's what Nolan was going for. He wasn't going for the tragedy. He wanted to portray subjective and objectively reality of the character

[@ChrisGuerra31]

I think the emotional toll on the audience might have been too great. I remember being shook even by shots from the original Godzilla. I thoroughly appreciated the sharp juxtaposition between celebration and horror as it was depicted. That one shot of the woman's fluttering skin still lingers in my mind.

[@ccsmooth560]

The US needs stories like Oppenheimer to feel better about its atrocities.

[@schm00b0]

Oh, yes! Oppenheimer was so conflicted! So were all the people working on the same project! That internal conflict resulted in hundreds of thousands of dead in Japan. That internal conflict resulted in 2,121 tests done since the first in July 1945, involving 2,476 nuclear devices ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nuclear_weapons_tests ). Why not just watch en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barefoot_Gen_(1976_film) ?