Oppenheimer

In his most mature and least audience-friendly film, Christopher Nolan draws in and astonishes viewers of all levels of intelligence and education with three hours of talk about nuclear physics and politics. I bow down before him. Filming such a focused, perfectly acted, informationally rich and thoughtfully assembled mosaic of events that remains interesting and historically accurate throughout its runtime in just 57 days is a display of filmmaking mastery. The fact that Nolan was aided in this by a subject that concerns and terrifies each of us is not a crutch. Which other director could bring such verve to this subject matter? The intensity and urgency of the film’s narrative are again boosted by the clamorously mixed soundtrack by the wizard Ludwig Göransson (Tenet), which is worthy of admiration in its own right due to its originality and the creativity in the details. Brilliant stylisation of the characters, editing and casting of actors that you wouldn’t expect and who fit perfectly (Benny Safdie rules!). A those two crucial scenes built on essential filmmaking elements without digital aids are absolutely fantastic. Immediately after the film ended, I had mixed feelings, as I had expected something different, as perhaps each of us did. But as time passed, Oppenheimer grew on me and I’m glad that Nolan did it his way. (08/17/2023)

A focused Nolan, a perfect Cillian Murphy and a roaring Ludwig Göransson in a history lesson I've always wanted to see. The suffocating atmosphere, disturbed only by the celebration of the Trinity explosion, sticks to the palate, and at times you feel sick of what could have been. If Hitler hadn't shot himself, they would have dropped the nukes in Europe. Oppenheimer's life of communism, his wives, his nightmares, his friends and his enemies are all engulfing, and for three hours they don't let go, whether it's black and white conversations or the simulation of a nuclear explosion. The horrific ending with Einstein still resonates with me. “Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.” (07/26/2023)

The creator of this device will be weighed down by his conscience, whether he is the destroyer of worlds or their savior. Let’s compare the escalating drama of the Trinity test culminating in deafening silence with the famous quote read in Sanskrit during a non-nuclear fusion with Florence Pugh, or naked bodies in chairs and imagination, and let’s consider what the author is truly good at and where the artistic arrangement feels of dubious value. In the respectful sense, it’s an opulent commissionary martyrdom, but it offers fewer truly exceptional moments than there are appearances of the god born in Ulm on a pulley. Nolan has the skills to craft a technically perfect bomb, but perhaps he should entrust the design to someone else. (10/23/2023)

Christopher Nolan has made an excellent 3-hour period drama about the making of the atomic bomb with a perfect cast, breathtaking visuals, great dialogue and decently dosed tension, but it's also a very exhausting and challenging film, and I'm not sure I want to go through it again – we all know Nolan makes films that need to be seen multiple times to fully understand them and pick up all the details, but here I just don't know if it will be too tedious a second time around, or if it won't be at the cinema again. I like the fact that Nolan wrote the script himself and got the best of the best for the rest: cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoyte, whose cinematography is simply unique, the music this time is not by Hans Zimmer but by the skillful Ludwig Göransson, who is also a safe bet; and he was lucky in the choice of actors. Cillian Murphy gives probably the performance of his life, which should be awarded an Oscar. It was also nice to see Matt Damon and Robert Downey Jr. (the rest of the famous actors really had minimal space and are rather cameos). The first hour is a little quieter and a little too much scientific for my taste, which I'm not that interested in, but it's simply part of the fabric, just not something I'm downright fond of. With the arrival of Damon and the preparation of the nuke – the explosion is one of the best sequences of the film (unexpectedly) – the tension was palpable, the atmosphere thickened and the whole thing is really very nicely executed. I enjoyed the final “trial”, it was pretty heated, although I expected to be even more blown away, as I love these verbal shootouts, but something was missing. All in all, I am satisfied, it couldn't have been done better, audiovisually it is a masterpiece of the genre, it's just not really my genre and unless I have the need to visit the cinema again immediately, I can't give it a full score. 8/10. (08/01/2023)

The long wait for another Nolan film was broken by the biographical story of Robert Oppenheimer, the man behind the atomic bomb. Yes, the subject matter is undeniably strong, but 180 minutes? Not so much. In typical Nolan fashion, he doesn't make it easy for the viewer, intertwining three timelines right from the start. If you're not familiar with the basics of Oppenheimer's life, good luck keeping up. The film is heavy on dialogue – a lot of talking, and not the gripping kind. This is especially apparent whenever Albert Einstein appears on screen; those moments steal the show and offer the best dialogue the film has to offer. It's a movie about a monumental scientific advancement, one that's essential for human progress but also one we might not deserve. It also highlights American arrogance and hints at what the Russians did afterwards – but let's not even go there. (12/23/2023)