“Oppenheimer” should have also highlighted the Japanese side

The American director Spike Lee spoke in an interview with the “Washington Post” about Christopher Nolan’s current film “Oppenheimer”. In his opinion, the film should have focused more on the effects of the atomic bomb on the Japanese people. He emphasizes that this is a comment, not a criticism.

The biographical thriller “Oppenheimer” tells the story of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father of the atomic bomb.” During World War II, he worked with other scientists on the “Manhattan Project,” which led to the development of the first atomic bomb. “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing approximately 226,000 people.

Nolan’s film focuses on the American side of events. “Do The Right Thing” director Lee praised his work, but added: “If it’s three hours long, I would have liked a few more minutes to see what happened to the Japanese people. People were irradiated. Many years later, people are radioactive. It’s not like Nolan doesn’t have power. He tells the studios what to do.”

In Spike Lee’s opinion, the film could have used a little more reality regarding the historical events, without going into detail about his notes. However, Lee additionally says: “Chris Nolan is a great filmmaker. Great film. […] And that’s not a criticism. It’s a comment.” Lee has “nothing but love” for the director and believes Nolan could tell him some things he would change about “Malcom X,” one of Spike Lee’s works.

Since the release of the film and the simultaneous emergence of the “Barbenheimer” trend, there has been some criticism from Japan. The “Barbie” studio used some images from “Oppenheimer,” such as the flames of a nuclear explosion, for marketing purposes. Many Japanese saw this as a trivialization of the bombing raids.

Despite the criticism, the film is convincing in terms of its box office results. It has grossed $912.7 million worldwide so far, replacing “Bohemian Rhapsody” as the most successful biopic of all time.