Now I am become Death, destroyer of worlds

PROJEKT iVIEW | Movies | April 2, 2009 at 3:10 pm

iView Author: RAGHU (Huntsville,Alabama, U.S.A)

Email: r.s.godavarthi@gmail.com

Now I am become Death, destroyer of worlds

I do not refer, by these words, to their source – the Bhagavad Gita, but to the most famous person in recent history to quote them – J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “Father of the Atomic Bomb”. I happened to see The Day after Trinity (1981) as part of a class and the documentary is a stunning narration of the incidents leading upto the testing of the atomic bomb at Alamogordo (the Trinity Test) and the eventual destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The documentary features testimonies from many people involved in Project Manhattan and also close friends and family, including Robert Oppenheimer’s brother, Frank. Jon Else, who directed and co-wrote the documentary, shows us the effect of the test through t he eyes of people who were not directly involved in the project. The imagery of the War -especially of Hiroshima and the aftermath is chilling. Several of the scenes etch themselves in your mind. There is one interview of a woman whose sister (Georgia Green) was being driven to Albuquerque, and she says at the moment of the flash her sister remarked “What’s that?” Her sister was blind. Then there is another of a professor (I forget his name) who visited Hiroshima after the bombing and brought back a piece of a wall showing the window bars imprinted. His cold excitement about the science he helped bring into existence is almost appalling.

The feature paints a vivid picture of the naivety of the scientists, their curiosity just to know if the bomb would work. Many believed that a demonstration of the bomb’s prowess would be enough – they wouldn’t need to actually drop it on enemy cities. They were working in isolation in Los Alamos, while outside the military prepared the ordinance necessary for delivering the bomb. Cities were left un”bombed” only so that they could be “viable” targets for the A-bomb. Another crucial fact illustrated is the lack of comparisons for the effect of the atomic bomb. After the Trinity test, the scientists were dazed – they realized this was something much bigger than what they had imagined. Frank Oppenheimer, Robert’s brother, is a crucial figure in the documentary as he talks us through the personal and scientific life of his brother. The psychological impact of the bombings on Robert Oppenheimer is one delicately described episode. The documentary does well in tracing the origins of Robert Oppenheimer’s philosophy. Footage of later interviews, after he was stripped of his security clearance reveals how dedicated he was to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons. His description of the reactions of his colleagues to the Trinity test, shown at the end, is a legend in itself. Instead of my description, I ask readers to view the video themselves.

A related footnote, and something that I had never even conceived the possibility of, is this interview of 3 men who survived not one, but both the atomic bombs.