Oppenheimer Movie Review
Synopsis of Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster epic is as profound and spectacular as cinema can get. ‘Oppenheimer’ is on one level a biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer and on another about staring into the abyss of the consequences of your own creation. The film starts with his early life in the academic field of quantum physics to his revolutionary creation of the atomic bomb which would change the world forever and then dealing with the aftermath. In the hands of Nolan, it becomes an existential contemplation of one man and his ability to destroy the world. The film details separate events taking place, all (which is of no surprise considering this is a Nolan film and his obsession with time) set in different time periods – his early life as a student and professor, the construction of the bomb, a senate hearing and the resultant subsequent interrogation he faced years after the weapon is dropped and detonated due to his perceived political views (the senate segment being the only one shot in black and white). What these individual moments in the film combine to make is a terrifyingly philosophical reflection on just what destruction mankind is capable of.
Analysis of Oppenheimer
Since it’s initial announcement, the cast of ‘Oppenheimer’ has grown and grown exponentially, creating what is without doubt the largest gathering of A- list actors this year (even surpassing Wes Anderson’s ‘Asteroid City’). However, the standouts are Cillian Murphy as ‘J. Robert Oppenheimer’ and Robert Downey Jr. as ‘Lewis Strauss’ (the chairman of the AEC – Atomic Energy Commission). Surely this is Nolan’s moment of proper Oscar recognition, having only had one nomination for Best Director (‘Dunkirk’) in his entire body of work. Murphy and Downey have both got to be guaranteed at least an Oscar nomination for this as well. Upon contemplation, the role of Florence Pugh as Oppenheimer’s love interest ‘Jean Tatlock’, with whom he had an affair with, and Emily Blunt as his wife ‘Kitty Oppenheimer’, did feel rather underwhelming. Both turn out undeniably great performances, but I would have liked to see slightly more depth or development. I will, however, give Nolan the benefit of the doubt considering the size of the cast he is working with. Murphy steals the show here even among Hollywood’s greatest and biggest talents, his deadpan facial expression and eyes masterfully convey the horror taking place as one man realizes just what his creation has done. After all, it is said that the eyes are a window into the soul. Frequent Nolan collaborator Hoyte Van Hoytema (cinematographer on ‘Interstellar’ and ‘Dunkirk’) focuses on close ups of his face throughout in order to capture this.
There is not one figure in Hollywood who has the approach to filmmaking that Christopher Nolan has. A massive admirer and pioneer of IMAX film and shooting on such a format, Nolan has made films this way for years and years now, offering multiplex audiences a fresh and different approach to your usual blockbuster. Granted, he has worked on some one of the biggest films in Hollywood history, but this has not prevented him from taking a fresh and practical (no use of CGI) approach in order to execute them. It has to be admired that studios spend hundreds of millions of dollars on his films, yet he still makes films that are as complex as he does, a risk that always seems to pay off. He must be applauded and respected for that and we are so lucky to have someone like him. Murphy, having collaborated with him ever since ‘Batman Begins’ all the way back in 2005, has claimed to have never used green screen (the technique used to generate special effects) whenever working with him.
The film’s superb score consists of a crescendo of increasing rumbles in order to emphasize the impending catastrophe of the weapon. Returning to work with him for the second time is ‘Tenet’ composer Ludwig Goransson who delivers his best work to date. I was fortunate enough to see the film screened in 70mm IMAX having never experienced this specific format before. Nolan does this in order to capture the world and story he is portraying. This was without a doubt the most breathtaking cinematic experience I have ever had, in particular when the entire screen filled with luminescent explosions and colours representing the bomb in all of its destructive beauty and the landscapes of the film that you are completely sucked into. As for the moment of detonation of the test bomb in the New Mexico desert in the film, it is an absolute spectacle to behold and had my heart racing, made even more effective by a sudden silence that follows to let everything truly sink in. I had literally never seen imagery like that on a cinema screen in my life (aided by one of the best sound systems I’ve ever heard). The entire audience in the auditorium sat in astonished awe. In terms of tackling the complicated consequences of such a creation in terms of legal, personal and philosophical matters, the intensity is only amped up even more as the film progresses right up until the end. See it as big and loud as you can. An extraordinary achievement.
10/10. In cinemas now.
