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Oppenheimer: Nolan’s Newest Blockbuster Release

Soph Johnson

Sophie Johnson

Following the arrival of Christopher Nolan’s heavily anticipated epic-thriller Oppenheimer, film buffs have flocked to the cinemas. 

Noted for its outstanding cast and heavy narrative, Nolan finds a way to tell an extensively detailed plot in the movie’s three-hour running time. He manages to tell this tale through dual plotlines set in the 1950s, in a similar feat to that of Dunkirk. Three years after the release of Nolan’s last film, Oppenheimer debuted with an impressive 4.4 stars on Letterboxd.

Oppenheimer focuses on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer in his work on the Manhattan Project. It follows him and his team as they create the first atomic bomb in 1945, with its testing and eventual use in Hiroshima in Japan. However, the movie also discusses the consequences of this and the moral struggle between right and wrong, innocent and guilty.

“Many critics praised this soundtrack for its intensity, adding to the building momentum throughout the movie.”

Ludwig Göransson, who composed the soundtrack of this film, was initially nervous due to the size and importance of the project. The visual expects team made experimental clips of particles, waves, and chain reactions which they showed to Göransson so he can draw inspiration from them.

Many critics praised this soundtrack for its intensity, adding to the building momentum throughout the movie. However, the Boston Globe argued that the score became intolerable as it was “drowning out necessary dialogue”. I thought the soundtrack added a lot to the atmosphere of the film and helped to increase the emotion attached to each scene.

Impeccable Casting

“Even the minor characters acted their roles impeccably”

Cillian Murphy does an impeccable job as the theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, in his development of the atom bomb. For this project, he worked alongside other big names such as Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, and Emily Blunt. USToday has cited this movie as Cillian Murphy’s “haunting career-best performance, ” and I agree entirely. Even the minor characters acted their roles impeccably, such as Rami Malik, Matt Damon, and Josh Peck.

A Stellar Audience Reception

In an interview with Wired, Nolan said that early screenings of the movie left viewers feeling a solid connection to the emotion of the film and each of the characters. He went on to explain that some viewers left the theatre “absolutely devastated” and others were even “unable to speak”.

Although some fans were unhappy with the lack of a Japanese perspective in the film, the majority of viewers left cinemas satisfied with the film’s portrayal. There is no denying that this is going to be one of the most well-received movies of the year. Many movie-goers were blown away by the scale of this movie – especially given the fact that Nolan did not use CGI to generate the explosion.

“Leaving the cinema, I felt speechless!”

Personally, I adored the movie. Immediately after leaving the cinema I turned to my friend and described it as one of the best films I had seen in years. I couldn’t help but think about the consequences of creating the atomic bomb, with or without the knowledge of how it would be used. Leaving the cinema, I felt speechless! It would not be a surprise if this won Best Picture at next year’s Oscars.

What’s to Come From Christopher Nolan?

After marvelling cinema fans up and down the country with Oppenheimer, it is hard to predict where Christopher Nolan will go from here. Despite his secrecy about his current work, he confirmed that he will continue making movies for the next decade.

However, he has said that he will not start any new film-making projects until the current strikes with the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild of America are resolved. This is a positive though as it means that he supports fair labour practices and workers’ rights. So, we will have to keep our eyes peeled for updates in the coming months.

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Featured image courtesy of Felix Mooneeram on Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.

Soph is a self-proclaimed musicophile, hot chocolate connoisseur, and a sort-of polyglot. She is also an avid lover of film photography, movies, and books.

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