[One Sip of a Book] The Untold Stories of the Movie 'Oppenheimer' Screenplay Collection

Editor's NoteSome sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book, while others instantly resonate with the reader, creating a connection with the book. We excerpt and introduce such meaningful sentences from books.

This is the screenplay book of the movie 'Oppenheimer.' It introduces all the content that the film could not fully capture. The running time of 'Oppenheimer' is 3 hours and 9 seconds. Although it is a long duration, this also reflects the limitation considering the maximum capacity of the IMAX film projector insisted upon by director Nolan. Not all the originally intended scenes could be shown on the screen. The sound is similar. IMAX filming inevitably involves camera noise issues, and since the director chose not to do post-dubbing to preserve the on-site authenticity, there are criticisms about the clarity of the dialogue. In that sense, the screenplay book delivers unrestricted information.

Einstein: He will find the answer.

Oppenheimer: What if that answer is catastrophe?

Einstein: Then we must stop. We must share the discovered facts even with the Nazis. So that neither side can destroy the world.

I turn my steps away.

Einstein: Robert? (handing over a bundle of papers) This is not my task, but yours.

Bohr: You have to make the politicians understand. That this new weapon will change the world. I will do my part, but you… (points at me) have now become America’s Prometheus. The father of the atomic bomb. The one who gave humanity the power to destroy itself. The world will worship you. Your work is just beginning.

Morrison: Is it right to use nuclear weapons on humans?

Oppenheimer: We are theorists. We always imagine the future. Imagination frightens us. But before knowing, we are not afraid, and we cannot know until we try. When the world learns the terrible secret of Los Alamos, a peace humanity has never experienced will come. The peace based on international cooperation that Roosevelt always envisioned.

A wave of dark thunder rolls in, and the terrible beauty soon turns to fear. I see the flashing clouds soaring high into the sky, and the flames inside faintly glowing a hellish scarlet, and I am engulfed in fear. A dust cloud rises with a purple heat causing cracks. As the sound gradually subsides and night returns to the desert land, Frank looks at me.

Frank: (quietly) It’s a success.

I nod blankly.

I clasp my two hands with a very uncomfortable expression.

Oppenheimer: Mr. President, I feel as if my hands are stained with blood.

Truman looks at me with changed eyes. He takes out a neatly folded white handkerchief from his jacket pocket and offers it while speaking.

Truman: What matters to the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is not who made the bomb, but who gave the order to drop it. I gave the order. It’s not your responsibility.

Truman gestures to Burns, and both stand up. I also leave my seat. It feels awkward. As I leave the room, I hear a voice.

Truman: Don’t let whiners into this room.

Oppenheimer Screenplay Book | Written by Christopher Nolan | Translated by Kim Eunju | Hubble | 308 pages | 16,800 KRW

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