TAS Reviews: Oppenheimer
In an era where franchises have dominated the world of cinema, there are two words that are almost as powerful as just about any IP or brand: Christopher Nolan. The man has directed some of my favourite movies, whether it's The Dark Knight - which is one of the greatest superhero movies ever made - or Interstellar - which is the first movie to ever bring me to tears. As a writer, he has used his movies to explore profound and unique ideas and concepts, and as a director, he is determined to utilise the media of cinema in as practical of a way possible, in order to create immersive, lived-in worlds and experiences. With that said, I haven't been a fan of his past few movies. Though Dunkirk and Tenet proved to be visually interesting experiments, both movies were anchored in about as much character depth as a Sunday Morning Cartoon. While I was initially cynical about Oppenheimer - a historical biopic that explores the life of it's titular character and his role in the creation of the atomic bomb - I found myself undoubtedly excited as we neared release, and optimistic that this movie would signal a return to the roots for Nolan - who despite being an incredibly gifted visual director, always grounded his movies in narrative and characters. More than just a return to roots, Oppenheimer is an immersive experience that takes the protagonist's feelings and plights and makes them belong to the audience, proving to be as engrossing as only the greatest novel could.
In the lead up to the movie, Nolan spoke a lot about the fact that he unconventionally wrote the script for this movie in 1st person, in order to get readers inside the head of J. Robert Oppenheimer. This seeps into every aspect of the filmmaking, and informs every decision. Nolan shot the movie in 70mm IMAX, the highest resolution that exists in cinema, and in doing so not only captures the incredible landscapes, but makes the most of Cillian Murphy's all time great performance, utilising his face as a landscape of it's own. The music, as composer Ludwig Göransson described, comes from within Oppenheimer, and brilliantly immerses us in his feelings - whether it's crippling anxiety or the rush of the particles flowing in his head. It is a score that deserves to be spoken about in the same breathe as the greatest ever put to film. Though physicists talking and thinking about science should be the part that most average movie goers pine to be over, the manner in which Nolan and the VFX artists visually portray the science - through floating particles and visions of a desolate future - lead to some of the most riveting moments in the movie, ones which make you feel the same immersion as the protagonist.
Though the movie is primarily shot and presented in colour, Oppenheimer features the first use-of-black and white IMAX. Nolan is an IMAX veteran, with The Dark Knight being the first major motion picture to be filmed using the format. The director is also familiar with black-and-white, having previously used it as a narrative device in Memento. Though the majority of the movie is told through the perspective of Oppenheimer, the black-and-white is used to signal a shift in perspective to Lewis Strauss, played by Robert Downey Jr. in his first major role since the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Strauss is a man known for his intense antagonistic relationship with Oppenheimer, and through this role, is able to deliver an Oscar-worthy performance defined by restrained rage and bitterness that threatens to spill out at every moment. It is a complete reinvention, and one that is so natural, it never feels like it's begging to be recognised as such. In addition to Downey Jr., Oppenheimer's vast set of characters is brought to life with a terrific ensemble, with Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Josh Hartnett, Matt Damon, Gary Oldman, Alden Ehrenreich, Dane Dehaan, Benny Safdie and Casey Affleck, with the only weak links in the cast being some awkward performances from Josh Peck and Rami Malek.
In the lead up to this movie, there was a lot of anticipation for how Nolan would portray the trinity test, the first explosion of the atomic bomb, with many joking that the director - who tends to favour practical effects - would detonate a real nuke for accuracy's sake. Thankfully, this isn't the case, but you'll be left wondering just how Nolan managed to portray the explosion, delivering a stunning rendition of the explosion that, as he himself describes, is equal parts beautiful and terrifying, utilising sound design and visuals to deliver an unforgettable visual experience that left me holding my breathe, anxious to release it but knowing that when I did, I would be coming down from an experience that encapsulates just what movies are made for. It's a movie that is generous with such experiences, with segments and scenes that feel directly taken out of a horror movie, and some of the best use of audiovisuals to create an accurate simulation of anxiety, fear and isolation.
While contemporary writer-director Quentin Tarantino is primarily known for his writing, Nolan is primarily recognised as a director. Praise has been lavished on the screenplay of a movie such as The Dark Knight, but when you ask a film fan what they think when they think about Christopher Nolan, they're more likely to think about the guy who crashed a real plane for a set piece in Tenet, then the guy who wrote the iconic Joker monologues. That said, the inventive filmmaking techniques in this movie exist only in service to an impeccable screenplay. Though stories primarily exist to impart morals and lessons, Nolan's script presents feelings and experiences, and instead of telling you how to think or feel, it allows you to think and feel for yourself. The movie is devastating in it's portrayal of the doom of nuclear warfare, but despite it being described as incredibly subjective, it feels profoundly objective in that it never dictates how you should feel. By the end of the movie, you're left with some of the most profound final lines you'll experience, but no prescription on how to interpret them.
Conclusion
Some of my favourite movies benefit from the power of an incredible screenplay, and do just fine with that. Yet when a filmmaker like Nolan drops a movie such as this (as he previously did with Interstellar), he not only invites you into a powerful story, but invites you into a cinematic experience that utilises every single arsenal in the medium to immerse you in a way you didn't think previously possible, in a similar way that Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning previously did just last month. Every tool - whether it's the crisp imagery, the inventive use of sound, the remarkable performances and the breathtaking imagery - is utilised to pull you, as an audience member, into the film. What's so great is that none of this comes at the cost of writing, delivering a riveting screenplay that burns itself into your brain. Just as the spectators in these events watched history unfold, watching this movie makes one feel like they are watching cinema history in fold in front of their very eyes, cementing Nolan as the greatest to ever do it.
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