Summary
Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated biopic of the father of the atomic bomb,Oppenheimer, has finally arrived in theaters, and it didn’t disappoint. This is a mesmerizing moviegoing experience, a profound cinematic achievement, and one of the greatest films of the year so far.Oppenheimerfeels like the culmination of Nolan’s entire filmmaking career. It has the parallel color/black-and-white timelines ofMemento, the complex duality ofThe Dark Knighttrilogy, the rich history ofDunkirk, the profundity ofInceptionandInterstellar, and the engrossing nonlinear storytelling ofThe Prestige.Oppenheimercherry-picks all the greatest parts of Nolan’s filmography for a mind-blowing celluloid cocktail.
Cillian Murphy leads the movie with a layered, complex portrait of a brilliant yet deeply flawed historic figure, with standout supporting turns byRobert Downey, Jr., Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, and Florence Pugh. Ludwig Göransson’s musical score switches between sweeping, romantic orchestrations and terrifying stomping sounds. It’s one of Nolan’s most thematically rich films, exploring both the psychological toll of nuclear warfare on the man responsible and the global consequences of entering a whole new generation of war.Oppenheimerisn’t just a great movie; it feels as though Nolan’s whole career has been building to this magnum opus.
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Oppenheimer Combines All The Best Parts Of Nolan’s Previous Movies
The opening moments ofOppenheimerquickly draw a parallel withthe twisty psychological thriller that put Nolan on the map.Mementofollows two visually distinctive story timelines: the color segments are edited in chronological order, while the black-and-white segments are ordered in reverse.Oppenheimersimilarly takes place across two timelines – dubbed “Fission” and “Fusion” – with one shot in vibrant color to take the subjective perspective of Oppenheimer himself and the other shot in high-contrast black-and-white (on film that had to be invented from scratch for the IMAX cameras) to take the objective perspective of the kangaroo court trying to revoke his security clearance.
The world’s most famous physicist at the heart ofOppenheimershares the same dual nature as a different Nolan antihero, Bruce Wayne. Whereas Bruce’s personality is split between a brooding, mournful billionaire and a rageful masked vigilante, J. Robert Oppenheimer is split between being a neglectful but caring husband and father, and creating a device that can wipe out entire cities’ worth of human lives. He isbecome death, the destroyer of worlds, but he’s also just a man. The nonlinear storytelling ofOppenheimerjumps back and forth between Oppie’s early academic career, his creation of the atomic bomb, the guilt that remained for years afterward, and the legal and political consequences of his communist sympathies. This narrative structure is similar toThe Prestige, in which intriguing story events are gradually revealed from all over the timeline, carefully piecing together the answers to the audience’s questions.
When he was constructingOppenheimer, Nolan handpicked all the most effective cinematic techniques he developed for his previous films and used them to bring the story of the atomic bomb to life on the big screen (and even bigger screens at IMAX theaters). LikeMemento,Oppenheimerflits between color and black-and-white as it charts two perspectives of the same story. LikeInterstellar, it’sa study of scientific innovationand what humanity is capable of. LikeDunkirk, it’s a startlingly accurate retelling of one of the most significant stories from World War II. LikeThe Dark Knighttrilogy, it’s a dark and gritty portrait of a troubled man caught between his humanity and his capacity for destruction.
Is Oppenheimer Nolan’s Greatest Film?
Michael Bay never made a better movie thanThe Rockand Roland Emmerich never made a better movie thanIndependence Day, so it’s easy to name their best films. But it’s trickier to name the greatest Nolan movie. Like Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg, Nolan has a bunch of different movies that could claim to be his best.The Dark Knightis the quintessential post-9/11 neo-noir, using one of the most iconic villains ever put on film –Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning Joker– to explore the societal fears surrounding terrorism.Inceptionmarked the first time that Nolan could really fire on all cylinders, telling a complex original story likeMementowith a Batman-sized budget. It’s a director’s vision from beginning to end, immersing viewers in a mind-bending recreation of the dreamscape.The Prestigeis a really smart movie that doesn’t just capture the skill and trickery of an old-timey stage magician; structurally, the movie itself unfolds like a magic trick with the pledge, the turn, and the prestige.
It’s a lot easier to name Nolan’s worst film than his best.The Dark Knight Risesis overstuffed and overambitious;Tenetis way too complicated for its own good(although, as usual, both of these movies have some exhilarating IMAX action sequences). It’s too early to determine whether or notOppenheimeris the new peak of Nolan’s career and the finest film he’s ever directed, but it definitely ranks among his best. The all-star cast brings their A-game, the visuals and musical score breathe life into wartime history, and the movie has one of Nolan’s most engaging scripts (written, unconventionally, in the first person).
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