Classic Rock
Christopher Nolan first heard about Oppenheimer in Sting’s song
Besides the huge success of the Barbie movie, another recent film that is being watched by millions of people in the movies is “Oppenheimer” directed by the acclaimed British director Christopher Nolan. He revealed in an interview Entertainment Weekly (Transcribed by Ultimate Classic Rock) that he first heard about the scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who is often called the “father of the atomic bomb”, in the famous Sting solo song “Russians”.
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That track was released on Sting’s first solo album in 1985 and cited the American theoretical physicist in the line that says: “How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer’s deadly toy?”
Christopher Nolan said that he first heard about Oppenheimer in Sting’s song
“I first heard about (Oppenheimer) when I was a kid. That Sting song ‘Russians’ refers to ‘Oppenheimer’s deadly toys.’ I was growing up in the U.K. at a time when people were very concerned about nuclear armaments. When I was 12 or 13, my friends and I were absolutely convinced that we were going to experience a nuclear war at some point in our lives.”
“And then over time that fear recedes, and Oppenheimer stuck with me as a figure, and I learned more about him over the years — including learning this information that he, along with the key scientists at the Manhattan Project, they couldn’t completely eliminate the possibility of starting a chain reaction that would destroy the world. And for me, that was the hook,” Christopher Nolan said.
The movie has a really famous cast including Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt, Jack Quaid, Matt Damon and Rami Malek. It will probably be one of the films that might win the Academy Awards next year.
The real Oppenheimer died back in February 18, 1967 at the age of 62 in Princeton, New Jersey. He was a victim of throat cancer.
