Auteur vs. Archive
Comparing "Oppenheimer" and "The Day After Trinity"
On July 16, 1945, at the Trinity test site in New Mexico a secret team of scientists and U.S. military personnel detonated the first atomic bomb. Only weeks later, the US government dropped an atomic bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender, effectively ending World War II.
Leading the original team of scientists at Los Alamos was theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who became known as “father of the atomic bomb.” In the summer of 2023 Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was a long awaited cinematic masterpiece. But as the hype for the auteur’s latest work increased, there was a renewed interest in Jon H. Else’s 1981 documentary The Day After Trinity.1 I recently rewatched both films, and my opinion remains the same; Oppenheimer is a great film, but The Day After Trinity is a more meaningful and direct view into history.
Else’s documentary focuses on Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb through the perspectives of other physicists involved in the Manhattan Project, family, and friends who knew Oppenheimer. Physicists Robert Wilson, Isidor Isaac Rabi, and Hans Beethe speak in detail about working on the bomb at Los Alamos and their feelings about the experience before and after the Trinity test. J. Robert Oppenheimer died in 1967, and is only heard through archival footage of him giving speeches or TV interviews. The main voice for Oppenheimer is his younger brother Frank, who is featured prominently as someone who is both sympathetic and critical of his older brother.
Nolan’s Oppenheimer is a three hour epic Hollywood biopic filled with stars, stunning cinematography, and a dramatic score. It spans Oppenheimer’s life from a college student into his old age. The film is framed by Oppenheimer’s security clearance hearing in 1954, in which he is asked about his political leanings and every aspect of his life. Oppenheimer is being accused of having communist ties and thus a potential threat to the United States. His enemies are using the panic of the second Red Scare to discredit his entire career. Oppenheimer needs this clearance to stay on the Atomic Energy Commission. If he loses it, then he will lose his ability to offer direct counsel on policy decisions related to nuclear and emerging weapons.
The structure cuts back and forth between the hearing, Oppenheimer’s past, and the “present day” Senate confirmation hearing of Lewis Strauss, who is trying to become Secretary of Commerce. Strauss had worked with Oppenheimer on the Atomic Energy Commission, where they frequently disagreed on policies. The largest flashbacks are about the development of the bomb at Los Alamos and Oppenheimer’s efforts later on to advocate for restraint and arms treaties.
Constructing the Trinity test site and detonating the bomb are essential scenes in the documentary and film. They include the same historical details—constructing the bomb and tower, last minute problems with the weather, men taking bets on the power of the bomb, and the Trinity test detonation. Else uses archival footage of the bomb being hoisted up a large tower and Oppenheimer watching the crew as they work on the device. There are similar moments showing the tower and Oppenheimer with the bomb in the Nolan film. Overall the production team was meticulous recreating the details of the bomb and test site.
The key difference is how each film conveys the Trinity test. In Oppenheimer dramatic music constantly swells and we see nervous men rushing and working quickly. Nolan’s build up to the bomb is perfect in structure, execution, and emotionality. He uses silence and heavy breathing to show the magnitude of the event when the bomb is successfully detonated. There is a somewhat melodramatic voice over of Oppenheimer saying, “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.” (However, this quote is historically accurate. I’ll address it in more depth later on.) The Day After Trinity does not have stunning cinematography or a magnificent score, but simply cuts between archival footage of the Trinity site and physicists recounting the construction, last minute changes, and finally the footage of the successful detonation of the first atomic bomb. A sense of awe comes from being able to see archival footage of important moments in the Manhattan Project, which were kept secret. The lack of music and simple intercutting of interviews and archival footage also give the viewer time to reflect and form their own opinions.
The most vocal critic in The Day After Trinity is physicist Freeman Dyson, who was not involved in the Manhattan Project. He was a colleague of both Hans Beethe and Oppenheimer at Cornell University in the 1950s. Dyson compares Oppenheimer to Dr. Faustus, Marlowe’s scholar who sold his soul to the devil in order to obtain magic power and the secrets of the universe. He sees Oppenheimer not as a noble patriot, but as someone blinded by his own power to create the most powerful weapon in the world. When interviewees are recounting discussions about whether it was necessary or not to use the bomb after Germany had surrendered, Dyson says of Oppenheimer, “when once you sell your soul to the devil, there’s no going back on it.”
In Nolan’s film the only character that ever offers a passionate moral critique of Oppenheimer’s role in creating the bomb is Lewis Strauss, arguably the villain of the film. He is power hungry, practical, and cynical. During security meetings he is constantly at odds with Oppenheimer about how to address further weapons development and plots to remove Oppenheimer’s security clearance. Strauss is the perfect foil to Oppenheimer, who is portrayed as earnest and naïve as he leads The Manhattan Project. There are poignant moments where Oppenheimer seems genuinely guilty or torn, but there is not enough criticism of Oppenheimer’s own lust for power.
Another notable difference is the treatment of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Nolan’s characters speak about them and Oppenheimer shows some regret, but there is no direct visual reference to these events. Los Angeles Times Film Critic Justin Chang argues that “omission is not erasure,” and leaving them out was a conscious choice by Nolan to avoid simply showing victims and quickly moving on. Chang explains how the film uses more subtle ways of conveying the enormity of the event, such as Oppenheimer’s vision of the bomb killing his audience as he gives his victory speech after the bombs were dropped on Japan.2 I agree with Chang that Nolan made a clear and intentional choice. But the highly subjective perspective of the film also does not allow for much outside of Oppenheimer’s viewpoint – even when the cast is gigantic.
The Day After Trinity shows only a small amount of archival footage from Hiroshima, but uses it in an impactful way. The first line of narration in the documentary describes how the bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. Within two minutes we see brief archival footage of the leveled city. Bringing up Hiroshima at the very beginning of the documentary impacts how the viewer interprets the physicists’ interviews and all the reasons they give for working on the bomb. Else returns to Hiroshima later on after the bombs are dropped, and there is archival footage of sick and wounded civilians. This is painful to watch, but is even more powerful in contrast to the interviews of some of the physicists who are at times cold or detached when speaking about the consequences of their work. It makes the viewer question how such important decisions are made in secret.
Nolan’s film does make efforts to critique the politicians, scientists, and military personnel who decided to drop the bomb. There is a scene in which military officials are discussing where to drop the atomic bombs. U.S. Secretary of War Henry Stimson advises the committee not to drop the bomb on Kyoto because of the city’s cultural significance and mentions he and his wife once honeymooned there.3 It is a clear critique of such callous random violence. A prominent aspect of Oppenheimer’s life and the film are his efforts to persuade politicians and scientists not to develop more deadly weapons and to instead establish more arms treaties.
But Else’s documentary is always more pointed in its critiques – especially when using Oppenheimer’s own words. A TV interviewer asks Oppenheimer his thoughts on agreements to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, and Oppenheimer replies “it’s twenty years too late…it should have been done the day after Trinity.” The melodramatic line “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds” that is used during the bomb test scene of Nolan’s film came from a 1965 TV interview Oppenheimer gave. Oppenheimer described thinking of this quote from the Bhagavad Gita right after the Trinity test. The TV clip in the documentary shows a much older Oppenheimer quietly reciting this quote, but instead of being in awe of his own power, he is ashamed by his past hubris.
Nolan’s film is a dramatic portrayal of a consequential time in history and in-depth study of a morally compromised person. As Else himself remarked, Nolan’s film is an important reminder of the danger of nuclear weapons.4 But no dramatized version of these events, no matter how finely crafted, can ever have the same immense power as the archival footage. Those in the present can watch these crucial moments, hear testimony from the participants, and then pass their own judgment.
Tracy, Marc.“Oppenheimer Fans Are Rediscovering a 40-Year Old Documentary.” The New York Times, 27 July 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/movies/day-after-trinity-oppenheimer-documentary.html.
Chang, Justin. “Oppenheimer doesn’t show Hiroshima or Nagasaki. That’s an act or rigor, not erasure.” Los Angeles Times 11 Aug. 2023, https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-08-11/oppenheimer-atomic-bomb-hiroshima-nagasaki-christopher-nolan.
These comments from the U.S. Secretary of War Henry Stimson cannot be confirmed. The script speculates his decision because Stimson did honeymoon in Kyoto. (Molloy, Tim.“Did a Honeymoon Spare Kyoto from the Atomic Bomb?” MoviemakerMagazine, 22 July 2023, https://www.moviemaker.com/honeymoon-kyoto-oppenheimer/.)
Tracy, Marc. “Oppenheimer Fans Are Rediscovering a 40-Year Old Documentary.”