There are works capable of renewing attention towards a theme or a character, sculpting them again in the collective imagination to the point of stimulating other similar works. This is the case of Oppenheimerfilm by Christopher Nolan dedicated to the father of the Manhattan Project, among the favorites for the 2024 Oscars. An intense and disturbing work, which explores not only the historical events that led to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but also the sense of guilt of J. Robert Oppenheimerevident above all in his dialogues with Albert Einstein, unrelated to the project but nevertheless decisive as the first physicist to theorize the use of atomic energy. And it is on the emotional wave aroused by this work that it fits Einstein and the bombNetflix docufilm by Anthony Philipson.
An operation as noble as it is risky, which sets itself the difficult objective of summarizing Einstein’s life, and in particular his link with the atomic bomb, through a mix of archive images and scenic reconstruction, exploiting both the real words of famous physicist is a cinematic story, with Aidan McArdle in the role of the protagonist. As often happens in documentary films, this second part is by far the weakest aspect of the project. For long stretches of a story just 76 minutes long we follow a decidedly dull and listless reconstruction, with Aidan McArdle more interested in physically resembling Albert Einstein than in communicating his character’s doubts and emotions.
An even more incomprehensible choice if we consider that the material narrated is imbued with historical and scientific charm and strength, to the point of not requiring any reconstruction to underline concepts that are already abundantly clear.
Einstein and the bomb: an unsuccessful mix
Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024
The nature of the operation could however have been sustainable with a vigorous and inspired editing, aimed at underlining the points of contact and connections between the two different narratives. Even in this case, unfortunately the result is poor: for long stretches of Einstein and the bomb we are basically witnessing a long, shaky stream of consciousness from a philological point of view, with long parentheses on marginal aspects and leaps and bounds on implications considered uninteresting or already known to the viewer.
The narrative is thus fundamentally supported only by Einstein’s words, which are certainly worthy of attention. After a long interlocutory phase, Anthony Philipson finds a fascinating interpretation only in the last segment, which similarly to what was seen in Oppenheimer focuses on the physicist’s sense of guilt for the barbaric and tragic direction taken by the world. Albert Einstein’s internal conflict therefore emerges and, despite not having directly to do with the Manhattan Project, he is considered to all intents and purposes to have inspired him.
The documentary film thus focuses on the suffering and pain of a man who, although innocent, feels the weight of the consequences of his ideas on his shoulders. The most convincing moment of a project that for long stretches obtains the opposite result to that achieved by Oppenheimerthat is, making the analysis of a fundamental historical phase for the world we live in today uninvolving and soporific.
In the wake of Oppenheimer
Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2024
What remains most impressed by Einstein and the bomb it is therefore the considerable research on archive material, so evocative and important that it stands on its own, without the need for cinematographic or documentary devices. Films that increase the feeling of being faced with an excellent wasted opportunity, which transforms the atomic nightmare into a yawn.
Einstein and the bomb is available on Netflix from February 16th.
OPPENHEIMER (4K Ultra HD)
4K Ultra HDBlu-Ray bonus disc con contenuti specialiCillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon (Attori)
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