Many things in Oppenheimer can't be absorbed upon first watch, or, for that matter, written about in first writing. Such is the Christopher Nolan Experience. It can't be wholly captured in one go and by no means does it end when the credits roll. Arguably, that's only where it begins – with a surrender to the emotional process, the awe, the shock, the wonder, and yes, even the confusion. Both understanding and appreciation follow in time, and personal schedules willing, after repeat viewings and a whole lot of discourse. Factor in real-life science and expect a lot of research on the side. That's the experience at hand with this gargantuan biopic.
Adapted from Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin's 2005 biography, American Prometheus, the film centers on German-born American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. Apart from his contributions to theoretical physics, his leadership and expertise led to the development of the first ever nuclear weapons. That discovery earned him the moniker The Father of the Atomic Bomb, which also became his cross to bear. The nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II vanquished millions, much to his lifelong regret. Consequently, that became his lingering inner struggle.
Both book and film reference Prometheus, the Titan who "stole fire from the gods and gave it to man". The opening text then follows the consequences:"For this he was chained to a rock and tortured for eternity." Much like his mythological trickster counterpart, Oppenheimer paid his debts for helping man wield destructive power.
The story had been tackled onscreen before, the earliest being the 1965 documentary Oppenheimer- The Decision to Drop the Bomb. That came out when Oppenheimer was still alive. In 1980, Sam Waterson starred in an Emmy-nominated mini-series with the same title. That earned him a Golden Globe nod for his portrayal of the titular scientist. The Oscar-nominated documentary, The Day After Trinity, also came out that year. Directed by David Peoples, that one utilized footage of the real Oppenheimer and concentrated mainly on the aftermath. It won a Peabody Award one year later.
Countless TV movies and documentaries followed suit, but the most recent entry was 2023's To End All War: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb. Directed by Christopher Cassel, the special aired merely two weeks before this film's release. In a way, it serves as a timely companion piece.
With Nolan now part of that bandwagon, don't expect his approach to be conventional. In fact, expect something otherworldly. His take had been in the pipeline since late 2021, when Universal Pictures won the bid for his screenplay. Much to public shock, filming reportedly ran for only 57 days. It's a surprisingly short production period, but the running time isn't. At a staggering three hours flat, this is now Nolan's longest film, beating Interstellar by 11 minutes. Not to mention, it's also his most visually complex.
Shot in a hybrid of IMAX 65 mm and 65 mm large-format film with almost no CGI, it's also the first to employ black and white photography in the said format. If that sounds painstaking, wait for the visual payoff. With previous Nolan collaborator Hoyte van Hoytema taking on cinematographer duties once again, the results are bound to astonish. Watch for the explosion scenes, especially the Trinity Test.
It's not a biopic in the encyclopedic or even episodic sense. Because, again, this is Nolan. He defies narrative convention, as always. So, we neither see Oppenheimer's childhood nor his inevitable decay due to malnutrition and excessive smoking. It's his psyche and paranoia that remain central focus. The rest are essentially aftershocks. Thus, casting is crucial.
This marks Cillian Murphy's first ever lead role in a Nolan film. Prior to this, he'd worked with the director five times, starting with 2005's Batman Begins. But this is more than just some "loyalty award" for their long collaborative history. It also poses a career high for the Irish actor. His transformation is truly mesmerizing, and his gaze conveys everything from the guilt to the paranoia.
The film follows the leads of both Dunkirk and Tenet in terms of "screw narrative structure". As with Dunkirk, chronology takes the backseat once again, with emotional escalation taking precedence. So, the events are not only out of sequence, but they also jump from one perspective to the other. Luckily, editor Jennifer Lame gets the hang of it quickly. It's her second outing in a Nolan film.
As for the audio, expect the same issues that once plagued Interstellar. Though, somehow, this time, it works to the story's advantage - especially when Oppenheimer loses touch with reality. Whether or not that's intentional, the disorientation extends to the audience. We're drawn in.
The plot is presented in two opposing timelines. One's "Fission", which is filmed in color and is presented mainly in Oppenheimer's viewpoint. And there's "Fusion", which is in black and white and told in the perspective of his eventual adversary Lewis Strauss. This marks Robert Downey Jr.'s third non-MCU film outing since 2020's dismal Dolittle and the 2022 documentary "Sr." This is now reportedly his all-time favorite role. You'll gather why.
The milestones are mostly concentrated on "Fission", which starts with a glimpse of the 1954 security hearing. But that's a latter development (the climax, even). We suddenly backtrack to Oppenheimer's beginnings as an anxious student who tries to "snow white" his irate professor by injecting nitrous oxide into his apple. It takes an encounter with Niels Bohr (cameo by Kenneth Branagh) to snap him out of that homicidal impulse. After completing further studies in Germany, he then gets intimate simultaneously with two communists. First is the enigmatic Jean Tatlock (a barely recognizable Florence Pugh) and the married biologist Katherine "Kitty" Puening (Emily Blunt, a tour-de-force), his eventual wife.
Enter more acting greats playing a who's-who of scientists and political stalwarts. There's Matt Damon, who put his acting hiatus on hold to join this film. Here, he plays Leslie Groves, the general who recruits Oppenheimer to the Manhattan Project. In turn, Oppenheimer then asks Edward Teller (Benny Safdie) and Isidor Isaac Rabi (David Krumholtz) to join the Project. There's also Josh Hartnett, picking up from his Black Mirror comeback as Ernest Lawrence, while Casey Affleck resurfaces as intelligence officer Boris Pash. Rami Malek also joins the fray as David L. Hill. While introduced as a bumbling side character, his presence would turn out pivotal. And then, watch for another chameleon bit from Gary Oldman as President Harry S. Truman. But it's Tom Conti who steals scenes as Albert Einstein. Despite appearing in sparse sequences, it's his exchanges with Oppenheimer that prove to be most thought-provoking. Just to give a hint, they try to make sense of it all.
It's oddly quiet for a film about a bomb, and considering the timeline, it hardly even depicts war. The cataclysms are instead shown through the reactions. They speak volumes of the horror, even if the source is largely unseen. It's the same premise that made Rosemary's Baby and The Blair Witch Project frightening, even if they're technically of a different genre.
Yes, three hours of dialogue can be daunting, and, inevitably, patience will be tested. But it's the characterizations that keep the fuse lit and eventually deliver the impact. Because, again, that's always been the Nolan way. It's about connecting to the audience viscerally before the processing takes place. More often than not, multiple viewings are required to achieve full grasp. In the case of this latest opus, it will blow you away again and again.
