Exactly. And I think it's clear comparing with the other on-set photography that there is a lot more contrast and moodier colors in the film's grade. Saying that Nolan was employing the elaborate day-for-night trick with a locked IR camera is quite far fetched.physicshistoryguy wrote: ↑July 15th, 2023, 5:05 pmYeah, the camera pans up at the end of that scene to show a somewhat bright sky, so it's definitely not intended to take place at night.
I SKIMMED. JUST A BIT. I think I'm in a worse position as I won't be seeing the film in a week, but rather more than 2... on August 1st. The wait will kill me AAAAHHphysicshistoryguy wrote: ↑July 15th, 2023, 3:26 pmNow that I've finished my reread of American Prometheus, I think I can move on to analyzing this opening look, focusing on questions of accuracy or whatever looks cool. It's not like I have anything better to do at the moment, haha.
Overall, I think it's a beautiful trailer, probably the best I've seen for any film that I can remember. It's apocalyptic, melancholic, intense, and gives me great hope for the film itself. Can't wait!0:07 So this whole scene, which I'm going to take to be a meeting of the Atomic Energy Commission in late 1949, is emblematic of how one should think of historical accuracy in this film. In one sense, this scene is very inaccurate; I can't think of a single meeting that would feature Oppenheimer, Fermi, Lawrence, Bush, Strauss, Nichols, and Borden all in one room in the wake of the Soviet test. But nevertheless I love this scene, not just because of the great B&W cinematography or how engaging the sparring match between Strauss and Oppenheimer is, but because I think it's doing an effective job simplifying the story. I said this scene was inaccurate, but this compression - squashing down many meetings over months into just one and putting all these characters in one room - is the kind of "harmless" inaccuracy that you can't really avoid when doing a film like this. So this doesn't bother me; on the contrary, I'm excited to see the narrative techniques Nolan uses to simplify an immensely complex story into something general audiences can understand while also being faithful to the real history. We see glimmers of that here: Nolan's put many of the principal players of the Cold War part of the film into one room, either keeping the characters "alive" in the audience's memory or introducing them for the first time; Nichols brings up the failure of compartmentalization at Los Alamos, directly linking the WWII and postwar plots, and connecting to the larger themes of "openness vs secrecy" that I imagine will run through the entire film; Strauss brings up "rumors" of espionage so Fuchs' confession later doesn't come out of the blue; and so on.
0:40 Bob Serber giving the famous Los Alamos Primer lectures!These were the lectures that the scientists initially brought to Los Alamos were given (later they were compiled into a booklet that was passed to new arrivals as they came). That drawing on the board of the gun design is taken directly from the Primer. One of the next shots features scientists presumably attending this first lecture, specifically Tolman, Kistiakowsky, Neddermeyer, Condon, and Teller. Here's another one of these "harmless" inaccuracies: Condon and Kistiakowsky weren't at Los Alamos at the same time, since Condon quit very early on after fighting with Groves over compartmentalization and Kistiakowsky was only brought into the project later. But this likewise doesn't bother me, since having Kistiakowsky here now means we don't have to spend time introducing him for the audience later.
0:50 On the basis of no evidence beyond a gut feeling, I'm declaring that this scene is the August 1943 meeting between Oppenheimer, Lyall Johnson, and Boris Pash where Oppie makes a fool of himself. I'm not too good at identifying actors from behind though, so that's entirely unsubstantiated at present.
0:53 So any scene with Oppie in uniform must be from the very early days of Los Alamos, when it was still under construction. He was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the Army, and had a uniform made, but the other scientists, Rabi especially, rejected the idea of joining the Army for the project very quickly.
1:32 Recruiting montage! Namely, with Condon, Don Hornig, and Bainbridge. Again with more "harmless" inaccuracies (Condon was offered the job of associate director on a train, Bainbridge already knew about the bomb project and had done a bit of work on isotope separation long before Oppenheimer recruited him for Los Alamos, Hornig was recruited a year later and by his immediate boss, as well as Kistiakowsky and James Conant, instead of Oppenheimer), but these are fine in my mind because it's clear that these scenes are supposed to serve as a way of introducing new characters in rapid succession in a recruiting sequence, while also giving a flavor of the doubts that scientists had in joining the project (not wanting to join the Army, having to decide to join without knowing what they were joining, etc.).
1:48 Again, my inability to identify actors from behind is apparent, but by the glasses I'm guessing the person walking with Einstein is Kurt Gödel, so I wonder what this scene is for.
2:00 Cyclotron! Or at least the magnets of the cyclotron without the vacuum chamber within. I just think cyclotrons, the first really powerful particle accelerator, are cool and have a really clever design, so I'm glad at least part of one is going to seen on the big screen.
2:15 I've mentioned my excitement about this elsewhere, but suffice it to say it's amazing seeing Leo Szilard here, and even though the actor doesn't look like him I really like the energy he seems to bring to the role. Plus what he's saying here is almost a direct quote: "Nobody could think straight in a place like that. Everybody who goes there will go crazy." Also, seeing him and Fermi next to their handiwork at Chicago Pile 1 is a very nice touch.
2:19 I'm gonna say that this shot of Groves slamming the door open, and the following shot at 2:20 of Groves looking stern as Condon walks away, is part of the same scene, namely where Condon quits the project after his fight with Groves on compartmentalization. That fight was triggered by a trip Oppenheimer made to Chicago (you can't just go and talk to people at other labs, that's a breach of security, says Groves); maybe Condon's presence in the Chicago Pile 1 scene with Fermi and Szilard means that this trip is what was being depicted there, although it could very well just be part of the recruiting montage.
2:26 Teller complaining that he isn't being allowed to leave is very interesting. Out of context, it just looks like a scientist trying to leave Los Alamos and being unable to (which is not right, since the scientists were allowed to leave and visit other places like Santa Fe regularly), but there was a specific instance in 1944 when Teller got angry enough that he threatened to leave the project until Oppenheimer gave in to Teller's demands (namely that he'd be allowed to work on the Super). If that's what is being portrayed here, then that's fantastic; with this and other scenes in the trailer, it looks like Nolan's going through every grievance Teller had to show in detail why he disliked Oppie.
2:56 Another scene with Szilard; I'm thinking this is his meeting with Oppenheimer before the latter's meeting with the Interim Committee (i.e., the "our boys would come home" scene). In Trailer 2, there's a scene at 1:54 of Groves and Oppenheimer walking through an ornate room, and the décor there reminds me of this scene with Szilard here. If I'm right, then Nolan's probably going to have Szilard interrupt Oppenheimer and Groves on their way to the Committee meeting, or something like that, instead of having Szilard meet him the day before the Committee meeting. Anyways, this conversation between Szilard and Oppenheimer is where the former tried to convince Oppie that it would be wrong to drop the bombs on Japan, but Oppenheimer disagreed, declaring that "the atomic bomb is shit" and would have no significance as a military weapon; I'm guessing what Szilard says in this scene ("You can convince anyone of anything, even yourself") is in response to that.
3:01 We get to see a bit more of this scene ("They won't fear it, until..."). My gut feeling, first seeing that scene in Trailer 1, was that this was Oppenheimer telling Teller not to sign Szilard's petition against dropping the bomb; turns out that was wrong, which shows just how much you can trust my gut feelings.As it became more and more clear that Germany was losing the war, the scientists at Los Alamos began to discuss the morality of their work. American Prometheus describes one of these discussions, set up by Bob Wilson (a physicist who isn't in the cast list) and entitled "The Impact of the Gadget on Civilization," that took place in the same building as the lab's cyclotron, which is exactly what we see when Oppenheimer first walks into the room, so this must be that specific discussion. The book's chronology suggests that this took place before Hitler's death, but this is probably another "harmless" inaccuracy in the film due to time compression.
3:05 I incorrectly thought the previous scene was Oppenheimer responding to Teller about the Szilard petition... but this might be that scene instead! Szilard was trying to get signatures on his petition against dropping the bomb, and sent a copy to Teller at Los Alamos; Teller asked Oppenheimer for advice, whereupon Oppie told him off and said that scientists had no business giving political advice when that's the job of politicians. But Teller later learned that Oppenheimer had been going to Washington D.C. giving political advice to the Interim Committee on dropping the bomb; Teller felt betrayed (when I said earlier that "it looks like Nolan's going through every grievance Teller had," this is the other scene I was referring to).
3:19 Kistiakowsky testing an explosive lens. Neat! Looks like the struggle to perfect implosion will get a fair bit of coverage.
3:23 As a side note, this is the one line that I couldn't understand when I watched the trailer initially; it's an original line of dialogue, not said in the actual hearing, so I couldn't check in the hearing transcripts. It was only today that I realized Robb was saying, "You felt your judgement was sound on who on the team could be trusted."
3:33 We've seen bits and pieces of this emotional scene with Oppie and Kitty in the woods, so I'm going to make a guess as to what it's supposed to be. The fact that they're in the woods makes me think this is Princeton, and there's snow on the ground so it's probably winter. I'm going to bet that this is in December 1953, right after Oppenheimer's security clearance is suspended and the charges have been laid out but before the actual hearings. This was a very emotional time for him (the day he received the AEC's charges, he overdosed on sleeping pills); furthermore, there must have been some tension between him and Kitty, since he was passively and stoically suffering through his trial, while Kitty was a natural fighter who thought he and his legal team should have been more aggressive. But we won't know if that's what this scene is until the film comes out.
3:46 I've given some of my thoughts on this scene elsewhere, but in short: thumbs up on Oppenheimer stating clearly that igniting the atmosphere was a past concern and not a present one, thumbs down on inaccurately describing the mechanism by which they thought it would happen.
4:35 Here we're at the front gate of Olden Manor, Oppie's house at Princeton, looking south across the field towards Fuld Hall. I was about to praise the film's sense of geography, but of course Nolan filmed this at Princeton. Again, I can't identify actors from behind, so I've no idea who Oppenheimer's walking towards.
4:43 I love this shot of the makeshift courtroom for the security hearings, with the Gray Board looking imposing at the bottom of the frame and Oppenheimer looking small and vulnerable right at the center. The courtroom itself looks amazing, with the "T" configuration of the mahogany tables, the lawyers on either side, the leather couch behind the witness chair... but the cars outside the window reveal this room to be on the first floor when in fact it was on the second.
4:44 This is the scene where Oppenheimer becomes death, the destroyer of worlds. 'Nuff said.
Interesting note about some of the scenes apparently being reconfigured a bit from how they would actually take place, like the very first scene. But, at the same time, that some of these quotes and scenes are referencing very specific events rather than some ~insert drama for drama sake~.
I think the same way that seeing the context for some trailer lines has made them made sense (like Oppenheimer saying they thought about the possibility of the chain reaction igniting the atmosphere), hopefully these other ones will have clear context when seen in the film.
This is my biggest grudge about trailers in general: lines can seem weird or sometimes even stupid sounding out of context. Especially when many are knit together for the trailer to say some "big picture thing". I KNOW THOSE ARENT THE SAME SCENE, YOU'RE JUST MAKING A COLLAGE OF LINES!!
Again, despite not being the best for me to read through BEFORE seeing the movie, your breakdowns are awesome!! I'm looking forward to what you think of the whole movie!!
...and I'll certainly wait for that to not sink myself out by being spoiled of every inch of the film
I think the same way that seeing the context for some trailer lines has made them made sense (like Oppenheimer saying they thought about the possibility of the chain reaction igniting the atmosphere), hopefully these other ones will have clear context when seen in the film.
This is my biggest grudge about trailers in general: lines can seem weird or sometimes even stupid sounding out of context. Especially when many are knit together for the trailer to say some "big picture thing". I KNOW THOSE ARENT THE SAME SCENE, YOU'RE JUST MAKING A COLLAGE OF LINES!!
Again, despite not being the best for me to read through BEFORE seeing the movie, your breakdowns are awesome!! I'm looking forward to what you think of the whole movie!!
...and I'll certainly wait for that to not sink myself out by being spoiled of every inch of the film
