The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer

If you saw Christopher Nolan's superlative new movie 'Oppenheimer' and wanted to discover additional details filling-in the historical backstory of Oppenheimer's Life & Times, David Grubin's insightful Documentary, first broadcast as part of the PBS 'American Experience' series, reflects more than a bit of luminosity on the personal & political challenges encountered by one of the most otherworldly-brilliant...... but perplexingly-enigmatic & intensely complicated scientists in history = J. Robert Oppenheimer who shepherded cutting-edge quantum physics knowledge directly toward our American shores (to Caltech and Berkeley) brought directly from the intellectual centers of 1920s Europe (e.g. Gottingen University studying under Max Born).... then organized & keenly guided all scientific aspects of the Manhattan Project thru completion in 1945.

David Grubin's superb documentary represents a valuable companion piece to the fantastic biography "American Prometheus" (by Kai Bird, and Martin J. Sherwin). This documentary also brings Oppenheimer to uncanny 'Life' via actor David Strathairn's* incredibly realistic portrayal, during the re-enactment sequences from security clearance hearings circa, spring 1954.

Oppenheimer's story is crucially important not only due to the technologically unprecedented scientific achievements (harnessing Atomic energy, ending any possible continuation of WWII )..... but also because it raises numerous moral dilemmas faced by humanity, especially people like Oppenheimer who had been blessed (or cursed) with the fateful knowledge of unlocking Earth-shattering forces.... Grubin's documentary painfully illustrates how even Oppenheimer's prodigiously brilliant mind was unable to reconcile or resolve the insurmountable obstacles lining the pathway toward convincing government Leaders to adequately control and wisely harness nuclear energy's full Peace-time potential (of course, there was no way to coax the atomic 'genie' back into the bottle after 1945). Unfortunately these profound moral dilemmas and potentially devastating nuclear threats still loom dishearteningly Large in our geopolitical present Day, making Oppenheimer's Story and lingering worries critically relevant with many lessons still to be learned.

*interesting note: David Strathairn already portrayed Oppenheimer much earlier, in the excellent historical TV movie (originally broadcast on CBS, in 1989), called 'Day One' a great docudrama primarily about the 'Manhattan Project' which also provides great background information and prominently features Oppenheimer, General Groves, Enrico Fermi, Leo Szilard, Einstein, President Truman and many more = a fine television film but very hard to find a copy these days, thankfully Amazon stll has the DVD available... and also quite fortunately David Grubin's American Experience Documentary: 'The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer' is readily available on both Streaming and DVD!

It is simply coincidental that I saw this episode of "The American Experience" at about the same time the new blockbuster movie about the man has been released. I watched it after discovering a cache of episodes from the series...and I love "The American Experience".

The story is the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who lead the Manhattan Project. It paints the picture of a very strange person...one who is also full of contradictions. It's also about how following the war, the hysteria about the Red Scare ended up costing the man dearly.

Even after seeing this show, I found it very difficult to understand the man. I think this is less because it's not a good documentary but because he was just a very tough person for ANYONE to read. Well constructed and moderately interesting.

Just watched Storyville: The Trials of Oppenheimer, I had recorded it on BBC 4, still on iplayer. Gives more detail to some of the events in Oppenheimer and puts them in chronological order.

Amazing how closely Christopher Nolan followed the real story but it's often necessary in biographical films to compress/telescope time periods and change the chronological order to create a smoother narrative. A documentary well worth watching if you can track it down.

The interrogation at the security hearings do come across as being more secere than in Nolan's film. Teller's duplicity but also his reasons for turning against Oppenheimer are made clearer. 8/10.