Christopher Nolan‘s latest cinematic masterpiece, Oppenheimer, encompasses various captivating elements. Primarily, it serves as a biopic of the renowned American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, portrayed brilliantly by Cillian Murphy. Beyond that, the film delves into the complexities of wartime politics and McCarthyism at its worst, while also presenting a visual treat with beautiful cinematography from Hoyte van Hoytema — and fabulous 1940s and 1950s suitwork.

Drawing inspiration from the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, Nolan produces his most mature and assured work to date as he makes full use of his three-hour runtime to dwell on Oppenheimer’s guilt, remorse, legacy and the consequences of ending a war but at the cost of so much more.

Nolan also famously has explained that the production team managed to conduct their own version of the Trinity Test — the world’s first atomic bomb testing — practically. In this interview with Esquire, Nolan sits down with the renowned physicist Professor Brian Cox to discuss the science of the film and that nuclear reproduction, the use of artificial intelligence in today’s world, and preparing the cast on the scientific terminology, among much more.

Nolan’s Commitment to Science

Nolan has long been an advocate for bringing in bright scientific minds to help him produce more realistic — and therefore, compelling — concepts that would serve as more grounded anchors for his work. His sci-fi work has always tried to incorporate some form of historical or scientific work within it, beginning with 2006’s The Prestige, which featured Nikola Tesla as a supporting character. The most notable, however, came through his work with the physicist and Nobel laureate Kip Thorne.

Thorne served as a scientific consultant for Nolan‘s 2014 science fiction film Interstellar. Thorne‘s expertise was instrumental in ensuring that the film’s depiction of black holes and other astrophysical phenomena was as accurate and scientifically plausible as possible. Thorne provided valuable insights and scientific guidance to help Nolan create a visually stunning and scientifically grounded portrayal of the cosmos.

Their collaboration on Interstellar was well-received, with the film earning praise for its attention to scientific accuracy while still delivering an engaging and thought-provoking cinematic experience. It showcased Nolan‘s commitment to realism and scientific authenticity in his storytelling, while Thorne also published a book entitled ‘The Science of Interstellar’ which explained how the team were able to produce images consistent with how black hole theory was calculated.

Thorne and Nolan would once again collaborate, on a slightly looser basis, for Nolan‘s 2020 film Tenet, which centered on a supposition that was drawn from real science that proposed objects or humans could move backward through time by inverting the entropy. Thorne assisted on some of the concepts but by Nolan‘s own admission, the film was not designed to be scientifically accurate in the way that much of Interstellar was.

You can see Nolan‘s interview with Professor Brian Cox down below.

via Collider