Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer follows theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his involvement in developing the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project. The film is based on Oppenheimer’s biography, American Prometheus, by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. Oppenheimer’s grandson, Charles Oppenheimer, has seen the film and pointed out one scene in particular that he disliked.
What Scene Did Oppenheimer’s Grandson Dislike?
In an interview with Time Magazine, Charles discussed his time on the Oppenheimer set and his conversations with Nolan leading up to the film. When he finally saw it, Charles liked Nolan’s film. However, there was one scene he disagreed with, but it was “not really because of Nolan.”
“The part I like the least is this poison apple reference, which was a problem in American Prometheus,” Charles said. “If you read American Prometheus carefully enough, the authors say, ‘We don’t really know if it happened.’ There’s no record of him trying to kill somebody. That’s a really serious accusation and it’s historical revision. There’s not a single enemy or friend of Robert Oppenheimer who heard that during his life and considered it to be true.
“American Prometheus got it from some references talking about a spring break trip, and all the original reporters of that story—there was only two maybe three—reported that they didn’t know what Robert Oppenheimer was talking about,” Charles continued. “Unfortunately, American Prometheus summarizes that as Robert Oppenheimer tried to kill his teacher and then they [acknowledge that] maybe there’s this doubt.”
Though Charles would have removed the apple scene, he could not imagine himself “giving advice about movie stuff to Nolan.” Charles cited an early conversation with the filmmaker that helped ease his worries about the portal of his grandfather.
Charles said, “When I talked to Chris Nolan, at one point he said something roughly like, ‘I know how to tell a story out of this subject. There are going to be parts that you have to dramatize a bit and parts that are changed. As family members, I think you’re going to like some parts and dislike some parts.’ That’s probably led into my acceptance of the movie, even though I saw it very late, just when it came out.”
Oppenheimer is now in theaters.
