After hitting cinema screens across the Chinese mainland last week, the epic biopic “Oppenheimer” written and directed by acclaimed film director Christopher Nolan, notched up a rating of 8.9 on Chinese movie review platform Douban.

The film itself and the life story of J. Robert Oppenheimer have prompted much debate among Chinese movie fans, on topics ranging from the impact of the IMAX cameras used to shoot the film, to stories about Chinese physicists from the same era.

One screening event invited a panel of academics who worked on the Chinese translation of the book “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” on which the movie is based, to join film critics in chatting to viewers afterwards. Many of the fans at the screening had already watched the movie more than once and expressed huge interest in the history and humanity of the story.

Dr. Wang Bing, translator of “American Prometheus,” commented on the fact that the movie did not have a happy ending: “We're used to celebrating victory, but only tragedy makes people reflect.”

Although the film did not close on a positive note, the debut of “Oppenheimer” in the Chinese mainland was apparently a high note of the hot summer movie season, where it has so far grossed over 240 million yuan, or $32 million, according to ticketing platform Maoyan.