This could be Nolan’s greatest achievement so far—a stunning biopic imagined as a complex, time-ticking paranoia thriller as the sheer burden of scientific progress meets the retroactive traumatic weight of 20th-century history.
Review #2,658
Dir. Christopher Nolan
2023 | USA, UK | Biography, Drama, History | 180 min | 2.39:1 | English
M18 (passed clean) for some sexuality, nudity and language
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh
Plot: The story of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s role in the development of the atomic bomb during World War II.
Awards: Won 7 Oscars – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Leading Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score; Nom. for 6 Oscars – Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup & Hairstyling, Best Sound
Distributor: United International Pictures
Accessibility Index
Subject Matter: Moderate – WWII & Cold War; Scientific Development; Atomic Bomb
Narrative Style: Complex
Pace: Normal
Audience Type: Slightly Mainstream
Viewed: In Theatres – Shaw Waterway IMAX
Spoilers: No
Everyone (except the antis) has their favourite Christopher Nolan movie—mine’s Inception (2010) but Oppenheimer is the closest the blockbuster auteur has come to making something truly astounding.
His trademark non-linear storytelling remains somewhat an oddity and rarity in Hollywood, at least at this scale and level of execution, which is why his treatment of the historical biopic is so refreshing yet familiar at the same time.
For two decades, we have come to recognise the Nolan touch, which is anything but subtle and straightforward. His is a cinema of bombardment and structural complexity, and in Oppenheimer, we get to experience the full magnitude of his Wagnerian style, as he takes us inside the mind of J. Robert Oppenheimer, more famously known as the father of the atomic bomb.
This balance of psychological character study on the vastest of canvases with themes of political deceit and paranoia that marked the postwar environment gives Nolan’s work a dark grandeur that has largely been absent in his previous films.
While the Trinity Test sequence has since become one of the director’s most stunning examples of his modus operandi, the more impressive ‘Trinity’ is his melding of Science, History and Technology.
“Theory will take you only so far.”
That is to say, the sheer burden of scientific progress meeting with the retroactive traumatic weight of 20th-century history is envisioned and affected through the most immersive of screen apparatuses: the IMAX camera.
It has been Nolan’s favourite toy since The Dark Knight (2008), and if I may, his signature ‘camera-stylo’ (a term French film theorist Alexandre Astruc introduced three years after WWII to describe filmmakers who use the camera like how a writer might use a pen, giving rise to the notion of a more personal kind of cinema, a precursor to the more famous auteur theory).
More than 70 years on, it is hard to locate another contemporary Hollywood director working today with as pure and singular an alignment of cinematic form, style and content as Mr. N.
With an ensemble cast to dream of, including exceptional turns by Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. in particular, Oppenheimer could be Nolan’s greatest achievement. Well, so far, and tantalisingly, as there seems to be no conceivable ceiling to his talent.
Humanity has faced the prospect of total nuclear annihilation at least twice in the 20th century with the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and the Stanislav Petrov incident in 1983, so a film like Oppenheimer is not just an utterly riveting Hollywood time-ticking thriller, it is perhaps the cautionary tale to end all cautionary tales.
Grade: A
Trailer:
Music:
Eternality Tan 
I was unfortunate to have read a biography of Oppenheimer as I was waiting for the film to come out, and I was deeply disappointed by the film: its gimmicky black-and-white to colour, flashbacks and overwhelming soundtrack utterly detracted from the gut-wrenching twists of the story when it is presented chronologically as it was in the biography I read.
The story was disturbing and poignant enough; all it needed was a simple retelling on film. Mr N’s loud mess saddened and maddened me.
But maybe I shouldn’t have been so eager to get my hands on the book. Perhaps then the film might have had some impact, but even the acting left me cold.
I feel that to be fair I should watch it again but frankly I could only endure it with the sound turned off. Granted, an atom bomb makes a noise, so no problem there, but many scenes would in my opinion have had a much greater emotional impact if the music wasn’t trying to force me into what Mr N wanted me to feel. This manipulation is for kids. Actually, not even for kids; it should be punished by the gods.
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Yeah I do agree that the film can be rather bombastic to some viewers. To be fair, Nolan has, for a long time, been a maximalist filmmaker, so in a way, I knew what I was going into, and perhaps even anticipated it. I saw it twice, once on IMAX. The music’s fantastic and I’m hoping to get the soundtrack CD soon, but I guess it can be too in-your-face. I would love to see an alternative treatment, as you said, a “simple retelling”, perhaps something more minimalistic and austere would be interesting. How about let’s give Kelly Reichardt the book, USD20 mil, and see what magic she can do? Would be so psyched for that!
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Now we’re talking! 🙂
I live in the sticks, so no IMAX here. I might have responded better if I had had your expectations and privilege. Singapore’s sophistication fascinates me and makes me envious of the high life.
Enjoy!
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Do you have a favourite Nolan? Or not really into him? Where do you live? Everyone minds their own business here, which is sometimes a sad place to live in.
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That’s my problem. I’m not into Nolan: too big and loud, which is why I found Oppenheimer such tough going. Killers of the Flower Moon is about as far as I can go when it comes to blockbusters.
I’m sorry that Singapore can seem a lonely place what with all the glitter and endless attractions – at least that’s how I see it on TV.
I live in the northwest of South Africa, near a town called Mooinooi, at a Buddhist centre.
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That’s great to know and thanks for sharing
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Comet to think of it, Nolan’s Dunkirk was spot-on for me, perfectly suited to his style – and he could have a ball with the sound effects and the score.
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Another great review! Personally speaking, I really loved the film. Christopher Nolan crafted a mesmerizing biopic about the father of the atomic bomb whose invention proved to be iconic. As someone that witnessed a painful bomb blast disaster during childhood, I connected to its message. Here’s why I adored the movie:
“Oppenheimer” (2023)- Movie Review – The Film Buff (huilahimovie.reviews)
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Thanks for sharing your experience
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