Oppenheimer Movie Review - A Devastating Portrait of Man's Hubris in the Face of Change
In many ways, christopher Nolan's films resemble puzzles he has finished, and when he demonstrates how the pieces go together, we go on a journey of discovery alongside him. In his most recent film, J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the Atomic Bomb, is the mystery rather than the movie itself. In Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy gives the performance of a lifetime, bravely plunging into the fractured psyche of a man who is aware of what he has unleashed on the world but still finds himself enthralled by his invention. It is a beautifully crafted character study that examines Oppenheimer's life from three different perspectives at an exhilarating pace that doesn't let up until Nolan uncovers the destruction the man left in his path and the future he still fears.
Nolan developed the first-person script for Oppenheimer based on the book American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, pushing his interest in the subjective point of view to new artistic heights. Oppenheimer is so deeply rooted in its title character's mind that the movie's abrupt transitions between color (Oppenheimer's perspective) and black and white (Lewis Strauss, played by Robert Downey Jr., who presided over the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission) at first cause viewers to groan. As Strauss, Downey Jr. may very well outperform nearly every other actor in Oppenheimer's impressive cast.
Oppenheimer behaves very much like the protagonist. It is brazen and moves at a velocity that doesn't care if you're keeping up with it. Murphy's portrayal of Oppenheimer captures some of the appealing qualities associated with the real Oppenheimer, but during the three-hour length of the movie, it feels as though Murphy's performance is going back and forth in time. Oppenheimer foresees what is to come and, like the atom, is torn in two—first, as a guy who is eager to innovate and create, then as a man who discovers a level of power that will alter the course of history and may ultimately destroy it. Oppenheimer isn't deterred by the fact that he knows this so early. Although the end of the world looms, it doesn't completely frighten him. His lips are parted in astonishment as he stares squarely into the brilliant end, a smile just visible between them.
Some of Nolan's most distinctly unsettling imagery in recent years is introduced as a result of Oppenheimer's disjointed structure, including a scene with Murphy, Pugh, and Blunt that illustrates just how deeply immersed we are in Oppenheimer's damaged psyche. These uneasy sensations give way to moments of utter terror, which are heightened by Nolan's symphony of chaos, which includes sparks crashing into one another, atoms splitting, feet stamping the ground, stars collapsing, and desert dust blowing across the landscape. It's the culmination of all his stylistic flourishes, and in a single motion, Nolan creates destruction and palpitating exhilaration. He is daring us to view the images he has produced and not be as appalled as we need to be. There will undoubtedly be horror—one scene, in particular, is the most terrifying of Nolan's career—but the director drives home his point in a closing hour that is both heartbreaking and instructive. horror soon gives way to despair.
As Nolan ties up loose ends, Blunt, who plays Oppenheimer's wife, Kitty, provides a career-best performance. Kitty shares her husband's fascination and awe for what man can make. Her husband is a shell of a man trying to preserve a world that is doing everything it can to rid itself of him after facing the apocalypse. He diverts himself with women — Pugh makes the most of every moment she is on screen, and another tryst has serious repercussions that reverberate throughout the movie's final act — but in the end, Kitty is by his side, and Blunt is quietly revelatory in the part. However, Oppenheimer really ends when Nolan gives himself permission to gaze ahead and bring some of the explosive images we've only seen in brief glimpses to its catastrophic conclusion.
Oppenheimer's exploration of the world takes several turns. Nolan may have the science down pat; experts have complimented his interpretation of everything from interstellar travel to the ethical quandary of the scientist at the centre of this movie; nonetheless, it's possible that the director still has more questions about man than about science. The mechanism by which a neutron strikes an atom and splits it in two is known as "fission," according to a title card that was unveiled at the beginning of Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer's fascination with discovery and the terrifying realisation of what unbridled power can do to a man and the environment around him cause what Nolan refers to as "fission" in his subject.
Overall, Oppenheimer may be Nolan's greatest achievement.
Ratings: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟