Oppenheimer is Christopher Nolan’s latest movie. This movie is about the father of the atomic bomb J Robert Oppenheimer and politics surrounding him.
Let’s talk about this movie. This movie is absolutely a technical marvel. The cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema is amazing, especially the black and white shots.
And there are no VFX shots too, so that’s an impressive feat in itself. Oppenheimer’s visions about the atomic world are amazing. They are a bunch of practical effects too. Now I have only one problem with the practical effects. I am one of those people who think that the trinity test nuke explosion scene should have been a CG shot. It didn’t look like a real nuke at all. They tried to use forced perspective to make it look bigger, but it didn’t have much impact.
The sound design, and the soundtrack are the best parts of the movie easily. The soundtrack here really elevates the movie. “Can You Hear the Music” soundtrack from the movie is something really really special. Ludwig Göransson deserves all the praise he gets.
You can feel the prowess of the sound design in this movie in the scene where Oppenheimer addresses the people of Los Alamos after the bombing of Japan. It is Beautiful! It is as Beautiful as it is Impressive. Not just the sounds, but everything about this scene is perfect. The cinematography by Hoyte Van Hoytema, Nolan’s direction, Cillian’s acting, all combined, create an amazing scene.
Another department where this movie excels at, is its character work and its details. It is so packed with information; it is so dense, that even on your 10th viewing you will find new details about the characters.
For example, Oppenheimer at first looks like an asshole, and he is. He in extremely unaware of his behavior towards other people, how much he has insulted and offended people around him, how rude he is towards certain people. You can notice there are certain people Oppenheimer likes and there is group of people he despises. He is a guy who understands Quantum Physics so well, yet he fails to understand basic human behaviors. This is actually addressed in the movie. Lewis Strauss says at one point in the movie “Genius is no guarantee of wisdom. How could this man (Oppenheimer) who saw so much be so blind?”.
But despite all these flaws, he actually listens to a lot of people’s advice. Jean Tatlock, his communist love interest, tells him not to abandon the communist group. And in the next scene he is talking about the F.A.E.C.T in his class. He listens to Leo Szilard and tries to raise concerns about the atomic bomb being dropped on Japan with the secretary of defense.
Our next important character is Lewis Strauss. He is kind of a narcissistic guy. Not the type of person who would easily forget an insult. Really vindictive as Kitty Oppenheimer says. Apart from the obvious, there are several small mannerisms you can read on him that indicate how self-conscious he is about how people perceive him. He corrects his senate aide to address him as Admiral Strauss not Mr. Strauss. And on their first meeting Oppenheimer calls him a “Lowly shoe salesman”. And this sticks with him for a long time.
The main confrontation is between Oppenheimer and Strauss. The movie clearly sides with Oppenheimer as it is his movie. I couldn’t side with any of these characters, because both of these characters are kind of horrible. Oppenheimer is unaware asshole, and Strauss is a narcissistic, and vindictive man. But I did feel a sense of satisfaction when Strauss got what he deserved in the end. It’s interesting how we Judge people in movies. We can forgive insensitive pricks but not overly sensitive vindictive pricks.
Another Interesting character is Oppenheimer’s wife Kitty Oppenheimer. She is a Graduate in Biology. She is an educated woman who wishes to be a part of something greater, to have an extraordinary life. But she always ends up a housewife, even after several unsuccessful marriages. This frustration builds up in her, and she becomes an alcoholic. But later in the movie she gets her moment to shine.
Now, all of these characters are brought to life by one of the most amazing ensembles of all time. Cillian Murphy shows his best performance yet as Dr. Oppenheimer. After sometime I forgot I was watching a performance. He is the perfect casting and he gives an incredible performance.
RDJ, Emily Blunt and Matt Damon were really good, RDJ especially. But some of the supporting cast really impressed me. I really loved the performances of Benny Safdie as Edward Teller, Jason Clarke as Roger Robb, Alden Ehrenreich as Lewis Strauss’s Senate aide, Scott Grimes as Counsel to Lewis Stauss and Trond Fausa as George Kistiakowsky. They injected some life and personality to their respective characters. Kistiakowsky winning $10 against Oppenheimer was a really wholesome moment.
I am a big fan of Christopher Nolan. His Memento, Prestige, Insomnia (Underrated in my opinion), Interstellar are some of my all-time favorite movies. But he isn’t really great at writing personal, intimate, emotional moments. He frequently collaborated with his brother Johnathon Nolan for his previous movies. You can see a blend of Mind-bending concepts and a Raw emotional touch in his older movies because of this. New Chris Nolan movies actually lack that emotional intimacy. Even the Intimate scenes of Oppenheimer and Jean Tatlock feel lifeless. Even during their sex scene, they talk like they are in a business meeting. And that sex scene wasn’t even that necessary.
However, this movie works fine without any emotional touch. It didn’t affect me emotionally, It Impressed me. Half of the time you are just impressed by everything that’s going on screen. You rarely see such craftmanship now-a-days. And this movie absolutely demands multiple viewings to be fully appreciated.
Thank you!
