Some of the most powerful moments in the history of cinema were not a part of the script. They weren’t meticulously planned or written years in advance. They were born out of a strong human creative impulse. In Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer (2023), this pivotal moment occurs during a fictionalized version of the May 1945 Target Committee meeting, where Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) consults top government officials about their atomic bomb targets in Japan.The line, said by the then U.S. Secretary of War, Henry Stimson (James Remar), tells a room full of officials not to attack Kyoto because he and his wife had honeymooned there.This chilling, darkly ambiguous scene is one of the most profoundly disturbing moments in the movie. What makes this line so powerful? How can we learn from it?Let’s jump right in and explore. Context Of The SceneIn Oppenheimer (2023), during a retelling of the May 1945 Target Committee meeting, J. Robert Oppenheimer consults top U.S. government officials about the proposed targets for the atomic bomb he and his team are in the process of building.I consider this scene one of the strongest in the movie as Nolan, along with his cast and crew, perfectly captures the moral ambiguity of a crucial moment in human history. Secretary of War Henry Stimson (James Remar) reveals that he has taken Kyoto off the list of targets due to its cultural and religious significance to the Japanese people.In a casual and resultantly shocking way, he says, “Also, my wife and I honeymooned...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Thursday, 29 January