When I think of
Christopher Nolan I think of four things: Giant scale, loud music, Michael
Caine showing up for at least a little bit, and dense plots that sometimes
border on the needlessly complicated. Until now the highly respected director
has stuck to fiction, be it of the superhero, science, or cerebral thriller
varieties, but it was only a matter of time before he applied at least a couple
of these four calling cards to nonfiction. And while it is oddly lacking in
Michael Caine, the other three are all there in Oppenheimer, a
sprawling look at the Father of the Atomic Bomb that is dense and exhausting
but also thoroughly impressive from a filmmaking standpoint, not to mention
engaging and entertaining.
Clocking in at exactly three hours, Oppenheimer is
sometimes a lot to take in. It is chock full of science talk and political
maneuvering, a relentless and headache-inducing combination that often made me
feel as if I was just barely understanding the bare basics of what was going
on. Compounding this is a massive and somewhat bloated roster of characters
played by what must have been half of the people currently working in
Hollywood, as well as a non-linear style of storytelling that covered several
different time periods simultaneously, because heaven forbid Christopher Nolan
do anything simply. Sometimes I got bored. Once or twice I even got frustrated.
But the fact of the matter remains: Oppenheimer is still a
darn good movie, and it owes a lot of that success to its sheer ambition and
scope.
Cillian Murphy is exceptional as J. Robert
Oppenheimer, and I appreciate that neither he nor the scriptwriters pretend
that the famous scientist was a shining hero that one must aspire to, instead
presenting a flawed individual who may have done some good and certainly did a
whole lot of bad. This nuance extends to all of the characters, all of which
are portrayed equally as well as “Oppie” himself. Ludwig Göransson’s soundtrack
is both bombastic and creative, underlining even the most mundane events with
gravitas and meaning (I particularly enjoyed a track that utilized the clicking
of a Geiger counter in its tune). Nolan’s habit of exclusively using IMAX
cameras to film pays off handsomely in Oppenheimer as well, as
the film looks breathtaking from start to finish.
It is a challenging film, but the challenge
is integral to its success. The cast may be huge and it may be hard to keep
everyone straight, but this just reinforces how monumental and important the
creation of the first atomic bomb really was. It may be full of complicated
science and intrigue, but this speaks to fact that history and the people who
make it are messy. All of this would be meaningless if Oppenheimer wasn’t
an engaging and entertaining film, but thankfully it is that as well thanks to
its compelling character work, elegant script, and everything else that makes a
film worth watching. And if I were to use any phrase to describe Oppenheimer it
would be exactly that: Worth watching.
Oppenheimer is now available in
theaters.
This article was first published in the Keizertimes on August 18th, 2023. Visit at www.keizertimes.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment