Oppenheimer will leave you shaken on a molecular level…
To swiftly cover all the staples of a Christopher Nolan movie that are, of course, once again present within this historical cinematic masterpiece, would be doing the experience, performances and overall craft of cinema a disservice, this my friends, is spectacular, so fasten your safety harness, apply your UV protection and lets take apart Oppenheimer atom by atom.
Unlike Nolan’s previous outings, which all have slight fantastical and science fictional tendencies, Oppenheimer is an incredibly intimate in-depth character piece showing a damning yet sympathetic deep dive into one of the greatest minds to ever live, with Oscar worthy performances from stem to stern, with a notable mention for Cillian Murphy, who manages to portray the titular J. Robert Oppenheimer as a charismatic, joyous, at times narcissistic, genius who is, from the very beginning, deeply troubled and tormented by the weight of his own excellence.
In addition, Robert Downey Jr, Emily Blunt, Jason Clarke, Alden Einreich, and Benny Salfdie, all provide intensely beautiful depictions of complex human beings with conflicting emotions and views as a close companion to the ‘Father of the Atomic Bomb’, the first of which, along with Cillian Murphy, I tout to get the Oscar in their respective categories.
This terrifyingly beautiful masterpiece is easily one of the most visceral movie going experiences I have ever had, as not only are the visuals unmatched, the score along with the sound design create a feeling of paranoia and dread, as you witness the creation of death itself.
The moments of silence strategically placed throughout the film, may be used as much needed breaks for your ears, but they double as points of extreme contemplation, acceptance and existentialism.
If you enjoy your history, this piece of art, will allow you to greater understand, to sympathise, with the burden of knowledge and power that was layer upon J. Robert Oppenheimer, while also becoming distrustful and suspicious of what would allow a man to become a “destroyer of worlds”. What tole would that take on a mans psyche? Would you be able to erase the images of scorched flesh, mother and child alike, from your brain?
Various breathtaking and horrifying depictions of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) are heavily featured throughout the 3rd act of the movie. Nolan achieves this by bombarding the audience with piercing audio and stunning visuals as a way to match the intense emotional shifts of the title character, at times, deliberately distorting lines of dialogue or information.
Nolan has a way of making the incredibly difficult appear simple, to take lectures and discussions regarding quantum mechanics, theoretical physics and make them, as all professors try to do, immersive. Some of the most spine tingling and captivating moments of the movie, were the slow burns within a classroom, as everyone in the theatre, and the scene, came to the same conclusion, as we all felt the weight of a somber reality and began questioning our own morals/beliefs.
Oppenheimer left me trembling at an atomic level as I left the theatre, it was inspiring, terrifying, and has stayed with me ever since…
As Oppenheimer said “The world will remember this day” I say “The world will remember this movie”.
