One staple in biography films is the end title sequence. That’s where as the movie comes to a close some text appears that gives a little more detail on the subjects life and perhaps the impact they had on others or the world at large. Here is a very small spoiler for Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer”, no such extra explanation on the man’s life is given. That is because after this three hour masterpiece there is nothing left to explain. Writer/director Nolan leaves no stone unturned.
The film follows J. Robert Oppenheimer from his college graduate years, to him getting tapped to lead the Manhattan Project that oversaw the development of the atomic bomb and the Trinity test (where the first bomb was exploded) and finally to his controversial security hearing years later. The story does not happen in chronological order. It time jumps frequently, sometimes being shot in color and other times in black & white. Years are never shown and it can get very confusing to the point of frustration. However, it all ties together and makes sense by the end.
