George Lucas’ Star Wars has been a pop culture delicacy, weaving a majestic tapestry of galactic histories and leaving a legacy that has practically laid down the structure for artistic greatness. Perhaps that’s why even one of the most sensational and acclaimed filmmakers of the 21st century like Christopher Nolan drew inspiration from the space opera saga for his forthcoming summer spectacle, Oppenheimer.
Niels Bohr – The Obi-Wan Kenobi to Oppenheimer’s Luke
Amongst the throng of geniuses and scientists that partook in the historical Manhattan Project was Danish physicist Niels Bohr who assumed the role of the loyal consigliere in the group. And given his position in the project, Christopher Nolan had just the perfect ideology to define his character in his upcoming war drama.
Kenneth Branagh, the British actor (best known for his roles in Thor and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) who portrays Bohr in Oppenheimer, described the approach (more like the Jedi Code) that Nolan used for the equation that his character with Cillian Murphy‘s eponymous protagonist, and the Star Wars lore had a massive role to play in it.
Since Bohr, in real life, contributed as a consultant during the making of the atomic bomb, he had a very mentor-esque air about him, much like Obi-Wan Kenobi, the noble Jedi Master who guided someone that would later come to be one of the greatest Jedis in the galaxy, Luke Skywalker.
“Chris had this idea that he had sort of an Obi-Wan Kenobi relationship to Oppenheimer, so it was worth thinking about in those terms.”
“Bohr was, in a way, a magician, someone who understood some degrees more than what Oppenheimer understood. But Bohr also appreciated that Oppenheimer was the man who would be presenting the atomic bomb to the world. He recognized that Oppenheimer would be able to both understand the science and endure the trials and tribulations of what would follow, which is something that Bohr intuits is going to be necessary.”
That being said, may the Force be with them (since Oppenheimer is going to battle with Barbie on the premiere day).
Cillian Murphy on J. Robert Oppenheimer
Murphy, 47, who stepped into the shoes of the father of the atomic bomb, recently opened up about the ins and outs of depicting such an important figure, one that essentially made history with his creation. Talking to Deadline about the same, the Batman Begins star remarked how it’s “a huge responsibility” to take over such an “important” entity like Oppenheimer –
“He’s one of the most important people of the 20th century, and you know, what happened in 45, we’ve kind of been living in the shadow of that since then. And he was a hugely complex, hugely brilliant, kind of contradictory character. And Chris wrote this extraordinary script, one of the best scripts I’ve ever read. So, of course, you just sort of, go at it and you dive in.”
Murphy, along with the rest of the ensemble star cast has time and again lauded Nolan and his genius surrounding the movie, with Florence Pugh even claiming to have never worked on a set like Oppenheimer‘s before.
Oppenheimer opens in cinemas on July 21, 2023.
Source: Oppenheimer Production Notes via Twitter
