The symphonic cinema of Oppenheimer

Warning: spoiler alerts. If you haven’t seen the film Oppenheimer yet, bookmark this essay and read it later.

Robert Downey Jr. is an inevitable nominee—and odds on winner—for Best Supporting Actor at next year’s Oscar ceremony for his performance in the new film Oppenheimer. Downey plays Lewis Strauss, chair of the Atomic Energy Commission in the early 1950s. In April of 1954, Strauss organized a star chamber of government inquisitors tasked to destroy J. Robe…