Last summer saw the cultural impact of “Barbenheimer” with the simultaneous release of two blockbuster movies on the same day; “Barbie,” a film about a fashion doll that has been around since 1959, and “Oppenheimer,” a film about the first test of an atomic bomb in 1945 in New Mexico. Notable was that they both bucked the trend of sequels and super hero movies. Bank of America said that the combined effect produced a significant bump in consumer spending on movies, and much has been written about the revitalization of the theatre business after years of feature films being relegated to streaming platforms during the pandemic.
“Oppenheimer” is the highest grossing WWII movie ever, and it is fundamentally a New Mexico story with many local filming sites. Director Christopher Nolan, known as a stickler for authenticity, wanted to convey the original ambiance of a secret and isolated, yet picturesque location, to chronicle the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a conflicted and enigmatic figure who became known as the Father of the Atomic Bomb. Played by Irish actor Cillian Murphy, he portrays the physicist who spent childhood vacations horseback riding and camping in New Mexico. He once quipped that his dream was to combine theoretical physics with life in the deserts of New Mexico, something that he was eventually able to do on a 7,200 foot plateau at Los Alamos.
Los Alamos, however, is now too modernized to pass for a 1940s encampment, so a rustic replica was built on an isolated stretch of The Ghost Ranch near Abiquiu, New Mexico, formerly the home and studio of artist Georgia O’Keeffe. Many of the actors found that the isolated location and breathtaking scenery added to their performance, far away from the distractions of a Hollywood soundstage. New Mexico has long had a reputation as an environment conducive to creative work.
Other locations include Lamy and Santa Fe, as well as interior shots of the actual house that Oppenheimer and his family lived in at Los Alamos, and the Fuller Lodge which served as a dining hall for the residents of the facility.
One original site does not appear in the film...the actual location where the bomb was detonated, The Trinity Site near Alamogordo, New Mexico. It is on the grounds of the White Sands Missile Range so it is extremely restricted. The Trinity test site was re-created near Belen, New Mexico. However, twice a year the site is opened to the public and there is a marker showing Ground Zero. This year the open house is on October 21, and April 6 next Spring.
For more information the National Park Service website is https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/historyculture/trinity-site.htm