Celluloid, Yes. Heroes ? Not so much.
A Review of Nolan's "Oppenheimer". Score: 3 Out Of 5 Lenses.
Nolan returns the audience to the use of real celluloid film in the truest sense of the word.
If I'm honest the most I ever knew about the man Julius Robert Oppenheimer were small historical epithets such as being the lead scientist on the "Manhattan Project" and that he was the son of Jewish migrants and little else. He was not one of the more compelling historical figures (for me) but perhaps this was by design as was kind of suggested in the screenplay by Christopher Nolan.
Lot's of Spoilers so here it goes...
At a glance:
This movie was very long and the story very non-linear very much like the way some of Nolans other films have been crafted. So if you have the attention span of a housefly and care only to watch movies that follow a very specific predictable trajectory like say “John Wick” this movie is not for you and you will be annoyed that you allowed yourself to set aside 3 hours that you perhaps could have used the time to practice your Pickle Ball backhand.
At times I felt that the regressions or "flashbacks" were a tad over done and distracting to put it mildly. Nolans work is definitely an acquired taste as he does move his plots around in an very unconventional way which can be interesting and taxing at the same time.
The pace of the movie gets progressively quicker towards the halfway mark but then kind of falls off and at times I felt my self becoming impatient because the story just seemed to have what I felt were unnecessary "detours" before resolving aspects of the plot or character conflicts. But far be it from me to complain as I guess these people were important enough in Oppenhiemers life to get the screen time they did. You will see scenes in this movie that employ a Black and White aesthetic and there is a bit too much of a back and forth between color and b&w that I felt was a tad too gratuitous and quite frankly also distracted from the story. I understood why Nolan did it but overdone if I'm honest. Also distracting from the the story were not one, but two gratuitous sex scenes bordering on pornographic but the second one which I thought was not even germane to the story and seemed more akin perverse fantasy rather than story telling. Titillating and fascinating yes but again very distracting from the story. Perhaps Nolan was trying to depict this as an amplification of “Oppy’s” moral conundrums and perhaps the hedonism that becomes part of the obsession along with self importance. Sometimes I think artists can overthink the aesthetic of a story and while it makes sense to the director (in this case Nolan) I am of the opinion it loses the audience if it's done too much .. and it did for me. If one needs to get their Freudian fix, Porn Hub is just a few clicks away… On to the movie.
About the movie:
Was this movie about the making of the Atom Bomb? Yes. Was this movie about dropping the Atom Bomb ? Well .., yes but not really. This movie was mostly about Robert Oppenheimer, his talent, hubris and inexorably what appeared to be his constant inner moral wrestling's and an inability to resolve them in any salient way. Oppenhiemer is depicted as having rather milk toast approach to life and a rather frail conscience. The movie was also about the people that were most important to him; lover, wife, friends colleagues and associates and a few brief but seminal moments with Albert Einstein.
The opening shot takes place in a meeting room where Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy) is being interrogated/interviewed with half of the face illuminated and the other in shade. Thus we are being primed for dichotomy which is evident in the entire film. The interrogation of Oppenheimer, his wife and friends takes place towards the end of Oppenhiemer's tenure with the military and the Manhattan project and it is from this point we start at his (mock) hearing we eventually learn is set up by Oppenhiemer's nemesis; Lewis Strauss (Played by Robert Downey Jr.) head of the AEC (Atomic Energy Commission).
The setting is Oppenheimer losing his security clearance at the conclusion of the Manhattan Project for what is his (and his associates) Communist Party affiliations dating back to the 1920's and 30's. Evidently Strauss intent on exploiting these affiliations it in order to keep Oppenhiemer on a "short leash" as well to exploit him as much as possible without repercussions in addition to advancing his own political ambitions. No surprise as this was also during the 1950's "McCarthy Era" and the growing concerns over Communism proliferating among the populace and the government in the United States.
Accordingly, when we are introduced to Oppenheimer’s first love Jean Tallock (Played by Florence Pugh) who seems to be wedded to Communist ideology was somewhat drawn out in "Oppy's" first encounter with Jean. There is a great deal of controversy about this first sex scene particularly among conservative Hindus as we see her -grinding- on top of Robert holding the copy of the "Bhagavad Gita" or ("Song of the Lord") which is a deeply held religious book for Hindus. As a footnote, directors of films for at least the past 60 or so years have taken ample liberty in blaspheming religious texts or books so this should come as no surprise to Hindus.
The reason I found this scene compelling is because it's the first time we hear the infamous phrase uttered; "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" in the midst of sexual intercourse. I do not purport to know exactly why Nolan chose to have this spoken during this scene but here is a theory. Most agree that (Human) life begins at conception. From a Christian Biblical perspective (human) birth is infrequently alluded to as the cause of "death". The apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians states: "I die daily" I Cor. 15:31 I could perhaps write an entire essay on this subject alone but I digress. Oppenheimer while perhaps brought up in a Jewish home didn't seem at all interested in religious matters, God, or salvation. Science was his "religion" and this seemed to play into the hands of those intent on exploiting it.
I can't say that allusions to Communism in this film were represented in an entirely negative way but more as a statement of being among a class of people; in this case the educated and intellectual class which is telling in itself. Nolan seemed intent on almost entirely omitting any religious references to God save maybe the reference to the "Trinity" at Los Alamos but then again the concepts of a "Trinity" can also be found in ancient Babylon and Egypt.
American patriotism was ambiguous at best in this story which seemed deliberate as well and the pardox of resolving equations to get an atomic device to work coupled with the pardox of resolving "world peace" through destruction.
The messages in this movie are consistent peripheral references to Oppenheimer and his inner moral wrestling's which never seemed to resolve either internally and consequently externally. This perhaps being his own personal paradox. His life being depicted as mostly a secondary consideration in the larger scheme of things with respect to the worldly ambitions of conquest and self importance yet another theme that seemed to be explored by Nolan.
Perhaps the best example of this was the scene based on true events where Oppenheimer's appeal of regret to President Truman; "There is blood on my hands". His exit from the Oval Office concludes with a final exclamation from Truman: "Don't let that cry baby back in here." (as Robert closes the door). A rather powerful scene placing emphasis on the what appears to be Oppenheimer's inability to take a moral stand on anything. Historically both Truman and Oppenheimer are quoted as having said these things but in an entirely different context. For the sake of Nolan's story it worked. In some respects it could be said that Truman and Oppenheimer were mirror images of one another. Truman being dressed in White and Oppenheimer in Black (yet another theme Nolan brings to the entire story both figuratively and literally).
Nolan’s Oppenheimer seems mostly obsessed with science and quantum theory so if you don't have proclivities towards the disciplines of either atomic or molecular science then you will be somewhat lost because these scientific pardoxes are themes are intertwined with the overall plot of the movie itself.
Oppenheimer is also depicted as a bit of a womanizer but not overtly. The moral dilemmas that continually surface are the story's primary theme seem to run parallel with the efforts to resolve the theoretical and practical construction of the "gadget".
This is flushed out in his relations to his brother, and his other friends and the continued fraternizing with his first love (Jean) while married to his wife. Other themes such as becoming either obsessed with self importance or part of a larger group addresses a loss of ability to arbitrate on one's own behalf, moreover, to discern the difference between right and wrong and how larger groups or entities such as Government can usurp control over the individual, something that is very antithetical to individualism. This theme is evident in Strauss's character clearly obsessed with self importance. It's hard to say how much of Nolan's Oppenheimer is true to real life but I think the point of how unbridled obsession with science and how one sees themselves within the societal hierarchy, whether intentional or not, were themes that (for me) permeated throughout this film.
The absence of any allusion to resolving internal conflict through a sense of self abnegation or an appeal to a transcendent God and the patently clear obsession with science and self importance coupled with characters that appear to have a luke-warm conscience save maybe Oppenhiemers wife "Kitty" (played by Emily Blunt) perhaps was precisely the message Nolan wanted to convey.
Finally, the use of Celluloid.
To say this movie had visceral texture and feel would be an understatement. It felt like journey back in time when scenes had to be so perfected so as not to waste precious film. And using Cellouid to shoot enough footage for three hours of story telling had to have cost a kings ransom. Nolan being an “A” list director could clearly foot the bill. Color portions of the movie were strong enhancing the skins tones and lighting in all scenes especially black and white where simply astounding. I can’t say for sure wether celluloid was used for the entirety of the film as film cameras tend be limited by the noise they produce on a set. This presents problems when microphones are prone to pick up all ambient noises in a room. Suffice to say over all look and feel of the movie was very pleasing in my opinion and made for good visuals.
I give this movie a score of 3 out of 5 lenses.