Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated Oppenheimer based on the man who is called “the father of the atom bomb” is more than just about his scientific efforts. It is about a person who knew what he was doing was world-altering and became, as he would put it, “Death, the destroyer of worlds.” On top of that, the politics that shaped his life and how it would be later used against him was just another layer into this genius who, to some aspect, was cursed with his pursuit of a horrifying weapon that only made the creation of more dangerous weapons that exist today. This film will just be another interesting figure in a line of several noted biopics about such complex humans and their contributions to the sciences.
The Story Of Louis Pasteur (1936)
Paul Muni won the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of the world-famous microbiologist whose research in 19th-century France helped shape the medical world for more than a century. While the film is a more fictitious version of his life, certain realities, such as his conflicts with the medical establishment over his experiments with vaccines (like today) and the lack of medical license, were very much true. The film, which was nominated for Best Picture, has that outdated quality you would expect from a mid-30s drama, but Muni gave arguably his best performance in a decade where he was arguably the best dramatic actor of his time.
The Day After Trinity (1980)
If you can watch this before seeing Oppenheimer, you can know the true story and get even better insight into who J. Robert Oppenheimer was. This documentary was nominated for an Oscar and won a Peabody Award, using archive footage and interviewed many of those who knew Oppenheimer and his wife and their importance to the development of nuclear physics. The film’s title refers to when Oppenheimer was asked what could’ve been done to stop the nuclear race, to which he replied that it was too late and that it should’ve been done that day after the first nuclear explosion test.
A Brief History Of Time (1991)
Another documentary, but another wonderful film that gave insight into one of the smartest men in recent years and one who was an important part of popular culture.. Stephen Hawking, the theoretical cosmologist who was widely seen in a wheelchair with a computerized voice, publicized his bestselling book of the same name, which he then expanded on his theory to director Errol Morris. The film intercuts his beliefs with his personal life, defying the odds to even be alive at this point, and what it means to understand everything about the world that many of us can only dream of knowing.
The Imitation Game (2014)
There were two biopics about scientists in the same year. One, The Theory of Everything, was about Hawking, his marriage, and his battle with motor neuron disease. It’s fine, but it is this story about Alan Turing that I really loved. I am a defender of this film and I still enjoyed it on my last rewatch. With Graham Moore’s Oscar-winning script and Grade A performances by Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, the story of Turing, a brilliant mathematician who helped break the Enigma code in World War II, is enthralling and a sad tale about a figure in history who was unfairly persecuted despite his heroic efforts.
Hidden Figures (2016)
This feel-good story about three African-American women who worked with NASA is a case of, “Oh, I didn’t know that!” As much as we knew about astronaut John Glenn and the first crewed spaceflight, the story of NASA not always having computers, but intellectuals in the Space Task Group who were also dealing with general discrimination was not part of general history books. Yes, there were inaccuracies and that fictional scene created a “white savior” moment, but the importance of these three women in this entertaining movie starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Montae are hidden figures no more.
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