{"id":35156,"date":"2023-07-25T16:05:36","date_gmt":"2023-07-25T14:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1862567"},"modified":"2023-07-26T03:42:49","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T01:42:49","slug":"oppenheimer-ending-explained-what-did-oppenheimer-say-to-einstein","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/oppenheimer-ending-explained-what-did-oppenheimer-say-to-einstein\/","title":{"rendered":"Oppenheimer ending explained: What did Oppenheimer say to Einstein?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christopher Nolan’s film has gone down a storm at the box office \u2013\u00a0but what is the significance of its closing scenes? <\/p>

By Patrick Cremona\n \t\t<\/p>

2023-07-25 14:05:36<\/p>

\n\n

WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for Oppenheimer<\/strong><\/p>\n

The biggest box office battle of 2023 kicked off this weekend as Oppenheimer<\/a> and Barbie landed in cinemas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While Barbie appears to have won the race, raking in $337m globally, <\/span>Oppenheimer<\/span> still amassed nearly $175 globally, shattering box office expectations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The film has also been met with rave reviews, with <\/span>Nolan\u2019s writing and directing coming in for particular acclaim, as well as Cillian Murphy\u2019s central performance as J Robert Oppenheimer \u2013 the real-life American physicist<\/a> who played a pivotal role in the creation of the atomic bomb<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although different from the majority of Nolan\u2019s filmography, in that it is a character study of a real historical figure<\/a>, the film nonetheless features many of the popular director\u2019s trademarks, not least his penchant for non-linear storytelling.<\/p>\n

The film unfolds across various timelines, and that has left some cinema goers a little confused about the closing chapters of the film and their exact significance.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re one of these viewers, read on to have the Oppenheimer<\/a> ending explained.<\/p>

Oppenheimer ending explained<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\""Robert\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Robert Downey Jr is Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Although many cinema goers might have expected the film\u2019s climactic moments to be the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this is not the case.<\/p>\n

Indeed the only \u2013 admittedly impressive \u2013 bomb scene in the film is a reenactment of the Trinity test, which comes roughly two-thirds into the film\u2019s runtime before the final hour explores the repercussions, both for the world at large and more specifically for Oppenheimer\u2019s psyche.<\/p>\n

Much of that hour focuses on Oppenheimer\u2019s inner torment as he reckons with the fact he is responsible for a bomb that not only killed hundreds of thousands of civilians, but that has now led to a nuclear arms race from which there is no turning back.<\/p>\n

In one scene, he meets with US President Harry S Truman (Gary Oldman), who chastises him for feeling guilty about the bomb, explaining that he was the man that made the call rather than Oppenheimer, but this does little to make him feel better.<\/p>\n

We also see him campaign against further nuclear proliferation, which was one of the key reasons behind the security hearings that form a bulk of the film\u2019s narrative and was also one of the reasons for Lewis Strauss\u2019 staunch opposition towards him.<\/p>\n

Why did Strauss go after Oppenheimer?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Later, Strauss\u2019 own motivations for wanting Oppenheimer\u2019s clearance revoked are also made clear.<\/p>\n

It emerges that he thought that Oppenheimer had badmouthed him to Einstein<\/a> during a conversation that had been teased but left mysterious for much of the film.<\/p>\n

\""Albert\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Albert Einstein, Oppenheimer.<\/span><\/figcaption> Universal<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

What did Einstein say to Oppenheimer?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the film\u2019s closing moments, we learn that Oppenheimer and Einstein had not actually been discussing Strauss at all, but rather were having an exchange about the bomb\u2019s impact on the world.<\/p>\n

Specifically, Oppenheimer reminds Einstein that while the bomb was still being constructed, they had fears that it might accidentally set in motion a chain reaction that would destroy the entire universe. \u201cWhat of it?\u201d asks Einstein.<\/p>\n

Oppenheimer\u2019s answer is the final line of the film. \u201cI believe we did,\u201d he says, before we are shown a sequence depicting the world being destroyed by modern nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n

What he means here is that although they might not have scientifically <\/em>created such a chain reaction, the political ramifications of the bomb\u2019s creation are so huge that he believes they started an inevitable journey towards nuclear holocaust and the end of the world.<\/p>\n

Nothing \u2013 not even his eventual political rehabilitation later in his life \u2013 can save him from this inner torment, that he really has \u201cBecome Death, the Destroyer of Worlds\u201d.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n