Saturday, July 29, 2023

To End All War: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb (2023)

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To End All War: Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb is a documentary film which premiered in 2023.

 

Here is some basic information about it:

 

** Director: Christopher Cassel

** Language: English

** Run time: 87 minutes

 

Many persons are interviewed in the film. Here are the names of the participants (in alphabetical order):

 

** Kai Bird – co-author of the book American Prometheus (2005)

 

** Alan Carr – senior historian, Los Alamos National Laboratory

 

** Jennet Conant – author of the book 109 East Palace (2005)

 

** David Eisenbach – professor of history, Columbia University

 

** Jon Else – filmmaker – director of the documentary film The Day After Trinity (1981)

 

** Gregg Herken – author of the book Brotherhood of the Bomb (2002)

 

** Dr Michio Kaku – theoretical physicist

 

** Christopher Nolan – filmmaker - director of the historical drama Oppenheimer (2023)

 

** Robert S. Norris – author of the book Racing for the Bomb (2002)

 

** Bill Nye – science educator

 

** Charles Oppenheimer – grandson of J. Robert Oppenheimer

 

** Ellen Bradbury Reid – daughter of a Los Alamos scientist

 

** Richard Rhodes – author the book The Making of the Atomic Bomb (1986)

 

** Dr Mareena Robinson Snowden – nuclear security expert

 

** Dr Hideko Tamura (born 1935) – Hiroshima survivor (age 10 in 1945)

 

** Alex Wellerstein – nuclear historian

 

Audio recordings of persons who are no longer alive are used on several occasions. Examples:

 

** Lt. General Leslie Groves (1896-1970) – director of the Manhattan project

** Martin J. Sherwin (1937-2021) – co-author of the book American Prometheus (2005)

 

J. Robert Oppenheimer was known among his friends as “Oppie.”

 

This film covers his life and career in great detail. From the beginning in 1904 to the end in 1967. His triumph as well as his tragedy. His career as a scientist is placed in a historical context and his legacy is considered.

 

Lt. General Leslie Groves was the director of the top-secret Manhattan project to build an atomic bomb.

 

Groves had to pick a scientist to be the director of the facility at Los Alamos (New Mexico) and he chose Oppenheimer for this position.

 

As the director of the facility at Los Alamos, New Mexico, his work was top-secret during World War II. But once the war was over, this project was no longer a big secret.

 

Oppenheimer was named as the scientist who had been in charge of the atomic project during the war. He became known as “the father of the atomic bomb.”

 

During the first few years after World War II, he was regarded as a hero. But after a while, his position was challenged and his loyalty was questioned.

 

In 1954, the Atomic Energy Commission held a hearing behind closed doors in order to determine if his security clearance should be revoked.

 

As explained in the film, Oppenheimer had been leaning to the left wing of the political spectrum before the war. 

 

His wife and his brother were members of the communist party. He had friends who were members of the communist party.

 

He did not want to abandon them because of the Cold War and because the Soviet Union was seen as a major enemy and a threat to world peace.

 

Oppenheimer was never accused of committing a crime, but his loyalty to the USA was questioned. When the hearing was over, his security clearance was revoked.

 

He lost neither his life nor his liberty, but when his security clearance was revoked, he was excluded from the scientific community of which he had been a prominent member.

 

His life was never the same as before. 

 

In 2022, more than fifty years after his death, the US government announced that his security clearance had been posthumously restored. 

 

The government explained that the decision which had been made in 1954, during the Cold War, was wrong.

 

What do reviewers say about this film?

 

On IMDb it has a rating of 78 percent.

 

On Rotten Tomatoes it has a rating of 89 percent (the audience)

 

At the moment, this film is not yet available on Amazon. 

 

This is why there is no rating. 

 

I understand the positive ratings. The participants are well-chosen. They offer many interesting and important observations.

 

But I feel that something is missing here: two aspects could and should have been explored.

 

# 1. Plutonium and Uranium

In August 1945, the US had completed two atomic bombs. One was based on plutonium, while the other one was based on uranium. This fact is not mentioned in the film.

 

The US dropped the first bomb on Hiroshima on 6 august 1945 and the second bomb on Nagasaki only three days later, 9 August 1945.

 

The US wanted to test both types under realistic conditions. This is why the US wanted to drop two bombs on Japan. This is why it was not enough for the US to drop one bomb. This detail is not explained in the film.

 

The interval between the two bombs was only three days. The US wanted to drop both bombs before the Japanese decided to surrender.

 

What if Japan had surrendered on 7 or 8 August? In that case, the US would have missed the chance to drop the second bomb.

 

The short interval between the two bombs is mentioned in the film, but the reason for the short interval is not explained.

 

# 2. The end of the war

One participant (Jon Else) says many people came to believe the atomic bomb had ended World War II. Having said this, he adds the following three words:

 

“Perhaps it had.”

 

But this statement is not followed up. It is left hanging in the air. There is a long-running discussion about this question: did the atomic bomb end the war?

 

Why did the Japanese government decide to surrender on 14 August 1945? Was it because the atomic bombs had forced the leaders to do so? Or was there some other reason for this decision? Was there another factor?

 

According to some historians, Japan decided to surrender, because the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and began to move towards the Japanese puppet state Manchukuo.

 

This interpretation is not mentioned in the film. No historian who supports this interpretation is presented in the film.

 

These details are neither mentioned nor discussed in the film. The failure to do so is a flaw which cannot be ignored.

 

This why the rating on IMDb is very appropriate. This product deserves a rating of four stars (80 percent).

 

REFERENCES

 

# 1. Books

 

The Making of the Atomic Bomb

By Richard Rhodes

1986

 

Brotherhood of the Bomb:

The Tangles Lives and Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence, and Edward Teller

By Gregg Herken

2002

 

Racing for the Bomb:

The True Story of General Leslie R. Groves, the Man behind the Birth of the Atomic Age

By Robert S. Norris

2002

 

American Prometheus:

The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

By Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

2005

 

109 East Palace:

Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos

By Jennet Conant

2005

 

Oppenheimer:

A Life Inside the Center

By Ray Monk

2012

 

The General and the Genius: Groves and Oppenheimer - The Unlikely Partnership That Built the Atom Bomb

By James Kunetka

2022


# 2. Film and video

 

The Day After Trinity

A documentary

1981

 

The Atomic Café

A documentary

1982

 

Radio Bikini

A documentary

1988

 

Fat Man and Little Boy

A historical drama

1989

 

Trinity and Beyond:

The Atomic Bomb Movie

A documentary

1995

 

The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer

A documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in 2009.

It is an episode of the long-running program American Experience.

 

Hiroshima and Nagasaki: 75 Years Later

A documentary

2020

 

Oppenheimer

A historical drama

2023

 

*****

 

In December 2022, 

more than fifty years after his death,

Oppenheimer's security clearance was restored

This story was reported in the

New York Times,

23 April 2023


*****


 

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