Cillian Murphy, the star of “Oppenheimer,” has defended director Christopher Nolan’s decision to include sex scenes in the biopic about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb.
@NolanAnalyst shares Cillian Murphy’s take on ‘sex scenes’ in Oppenheimer in a Tweet garnered 74.1K+ Views with over 1.2K Likes:
Cillian Murphy on the necessity of the sex scenes in #Oppenheimer:
“I think they were vital in this movie. I think the relationship that J. Robert Oppenheimer has with Jean Tatlock is one of the most crucial emotional parts of the film. I think if they’re key to the story then… pic.twitter.com/aC8EvO7mIS
— Christopher Nolan Art & Updates (@NolanAnalyst) July 26, 2023
On the surface, it seemed needless to include sex scenes when portraying the life and work of the renowned physicist who oversaw the development of one of the most lethal weapons ever conceived.
However, as it turns out, Oppenheimer was a ladies’ man in real life, having many relationships while married to his wife Kitty (Emily Blunt), including one with a Communist named Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh).
“I think they were vital in this,” Murphy told British GQ. “I think the relationship that he has with Jean Tatlock is one of the most crucial emotional parts of the film. I think if they’re key to the story then they’re worthwhile.”
“Listen, no one likes doing them, they’re the most awkward possible part of our job,” Murphy went on. “But sometimes you have to get on with it.”
Nolan responded in a similar manner when Insider asked about his decision to include the sex scenes, which also happens to be the first time he is filming sexually graphic content in his career.
“When you look at Oppenheimer’s life and you look at his story, that aspect of his life, the aspect of his sexuality, his way with women, the charm that he exuded, it’s an essential part of his story,” he said. “His very intense relationship with Jean Tatlock, played by Florence Pugh, is one of the most important things in his life. But not least for the fact that Jean Tatlock was very explicitly a Communist and his obsession with her therefore had enormous ramifications for his later life and his ultimate fate.”
Oppenheimer’s security clearance was revoked a decade after he successfully tested the atomic bomb and it was detonated on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, effectively ending World War II.
The revocation followed a 1954 security hearing in which he faced allegations of having Communist affiliations.
“It felt very important to understand their relationship and to really see inside it and understand what made it tick without being coy or allusive about it, but to try to be intimate, to try and be in there with him and fully understand the relationship that was so important to him,” Comments Nolan on Oppenheimer’s relationship with Tatlock.
Audiences all over the world are reacting differently to the film’s sex and nudity.
There has been controversy in India over a scene in which Oppenheimer reads from a copy of the Bhagavad Gita – a sacred Hindu text — while having sex with Tatlock. The scene has been condemned by India’s Information Commissioner calling it a “scathing attack on Hinduism.”
In some international versions, Florence Pugh’s naked torso is covered by a CGI black slip dress.
“Oppenheimer” is currently playing in theaters. What do you think about the explicit scenes Nolan included for the first time ever in any of his movies? Let us know in the comments below.
