Oppenheimer (2023)

Review

180min

Genre:       Fact-based, Drama, War

Director:     Christopher Nolan

Cast:         Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr.…and more

Writers:     Christopher Nolan, Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin

-Synopsis-

An American physicist at the height of World War II reluctantly becomes the destroyer of worlds as his relentless drive to beat the Nazis in the development of the atomic bomb takes him and some of the finest scientific minds in the world to a remote New Mexico desert until the mission is done, only for the realisation of what he has unleashed to drop and the politics of the time to swallow him up in this epic biographical take on the Robert Oppenheimer story from the director of ‘Interstellar’ and the ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy.

After nearly two decades establishing himself as one of the most daring and visionary filmmakers in this era of Hollywood by re-defining cinematic spectacle, re-inventing the superhero epic, and establishing the nonlinear cerebral blockbuster—largely under the auspices of his partnership with Warner Bros.—Christopher Nolan jumps ship to Universal Pictures and plunges into crucial 20^th century history to illuminate one of its more forgotten yet most important figures. As he adapts the 2005 Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin biographical novel ‘American Prometheus’ to deliver a masterful and personal historical meditation on scientific discovery and the human condition, and one of the most successful biopics in film history . . . thanks in no small part to a Barbiefied viral marketing campaign for the ages.

Cillian Murphy stars as mellow and aloof but brilliant American physicist and quantum mechanics revolutionary J. Robert Oppenheimer, an ambitious academic trying to make his mark on the early 20^th century and balancing his private sympathies for socialist movements—including a passionate relationship with fellow academic and committed communist Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh)—with his loyalty to his country and a devotion to his complex and formidable wife Kitty (Emily Blunt).

But when major scientific breakthroughs are made and World War II escalates with the prospect of a Third Reich atomic bomb becoming a reality, Oppenheimer’s focus narrows and takes a secret military path under the auspices of general Leslie R. Groves Jr. (Matt Damon). As he assembles the greatest minds of applied and theoretical physics at Los Alamos on an isolated mission to beat the Nazis to the line, completing his sobering desert mission at any cost but instantly regretting it as his grand vision is realised in devastating fashion but then politically re-purposed—putting him on a collision course with the US government when he becomes a leading voice of non-proliferation and placing him in the crosshairs of Cold War political figures like Washington insider and US nuclear tsar Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.).

As far as cinematic subjects who have made a major impact on recent history, Dr. Oppenheimer has been a relatively unknown and largely untouched figure by Hollywood and society in recent times, particularly when you consider that his legacy—for better or worse—will likely hang over every head and endure for as long as humanity does. And it’s with this in mind that Christopher Nolan sets out his stall to paint an unsurprisingly empathetic and decidedly sympathetic portrait of a complex figure at a different time, as fairly and historically faithfully as you can expect from a big Hollywood drama, while also saying something about human nature which transcends eras.

From a glance at his filmography and in particular films like ‘The Prestige’ and ‘Dunkirk’, it was always clear that a Chris Nolan take on relatively recent history—even one so grounded in the facts—was never going to be a dull affair, and with ‘Oppenheimer’ he follows his bold storytelling and visual instincts in giving a certain cinematic and dynamic quality to what could have been a dry biographical period drama.

The results are sterling productions designs to faithfully recreate not only the eras depicted but the tools and machines of the Los Alamos trade, plus the impeccable costume designs to dress the figures who defined it all, most notably of course the suit, hat and dangling cigarette of the signature Oppenheimer silhouette. When you combine that with striking visuals and sequences of life and endless energy at the atomic level, plus a moody but warm colour aesthetic for scenes often offset with cool and clean monochrome sequences to denote a jumping chronology—all captured by Nolan’s current go-to cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema (Interstellar, Dunkirk)—it makes for a vivid visual feast retrained only by the historical setting. All perfectly complemented by a pulsating sound design and an evocative score to match from composer Ludwig Göransson (Black Panther, Tenet), who is fast becoming the director’s new go-to music man of choice.

Beyond the spectacle and its style credentials ‘Oppenheimer’ is truly a multi-faceted human drama which represents Nolan’s most character-driven piece to date, sometimes unfolding like a lyrical layman’s lesson on physics and the revolutionary field of quantum mechanics, at other times as a legal and political period drama with the proceedings and government committees to match, plus all the socio-political machinations of the pre and post-war era, the Cold War, and rabid anti-communist McCarthyism. Most importantly though this is a compelling, layered, and masterfully measured character study which makes its three-hour runtime a breeze, placing its protagonist in the thick of it as a participant but also a pawn, and dare we say it at times even a victim—albeit a self-aware one with plenty to answer for.

As a character piece then ‘Oppenheimer’ relies on the strength of the impressive cast Nolan assembles around its protagonist, who thankfully all deliver in spades. From the humanely realised scientific and academic figures assembled at Los Alamos, with Josh Hartnett as Ernest Lawrence and Benny Safdie as Edward Teller proving standouts, to the antagonistic governmental figures with an alarmingly aged Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss leading the persecutory charge, while Matt Damon injects some unexpected charm as the military handler and reluctant ally Leslie Groves, plus Emily Blunt as his wife Kitty and Florence Pugh as his inconvenient lover Jean Tatlock both shining as the complex women in his life.

Yet as the film’s title might suggest, and despite a large and impressive ensemble cast, this is really a one man show, and Cillian Murphy truly carries the daunting burden on his appropriately slender shoulders with a stoic grace and gravitas. Shining as a slightly aloof but brilliant single-minded scientist with a complicated personal life, charged with a daunting task and struggling to keep it all on track while slowly slipping into an existential crisis of his own making which he should have seen coming, then pulled into a political whirlpool and spit out the other side. A subtle but powerful performance which will surely trouble every leading actor prize come awards season.

Despite being by nature a clearly sympathetic and empathetic portrait of Robert Oppenheimer, the film does also provide food for thought about the man and his scientific ilk, and leaves room for the audience to make their minds up from their modern perspective, and ask questions. Questions about the nature of the Manhattan Project and how it was ultimately used, about moral accountability at a very different and complex time—not only for creating the bomb but for opening a pandora’s box which can never be fully closed again—but also existential questions about identity and scientific discovery, and mankind’s place in the universe.

No doubt ‘Oppenheimer’ will be picked apart by historians and commentators over what it does and doesn’t depict and how it does so, and despite his devotion to the facts this is still a Hollywood drama and Chris Nolan was never going to fully cover the extreme complexities of this era of human history—the second World War leading into the intertwining politics and militarism of the Cold War—but never was that his goal either.

That goal was to create a measured but dazzling human portrait of a complex towering figure of the 20^th century, while reflecting several aspects of human nature in the process, and the result is a masterfully crafted and beautifully realised period piece character study. But also a perpetually relevant Promethean parable about the perils of playing God and the dangers of single-minded scientific discovery, particularly when mixed with war, politics, business and ideology—reminding us of that classic Ian Malcolm line so memorably uttered by Jeff Goldblum in ‘Jurassic Park’; “your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

The Bottom Line…

A striking and lyrical period drama snapshot of the mid-20^th century and masterful Promethean portrait of the father of the atomic age, with ‘Oppenheimer’ Christopher Nolan makes an indelible mark on the history of Hollywood historical biopics whilst weaving together both an ode and a warning tale about scientific discovery with a measured meditation on a complex but crucial figure of recent human history, who defined our collective future . . . one way or another.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

The Imitation Game (2014)

A dramatic period drama portrait of Alan Turing; the legendary British mathematician and wartime code-breaker who helped to end World War II and save millions of lives and in the process become the father of modern computing and artificial intelligence, but whose glory was never to be celebrated in his lifetime as Turing was marginalised for his sexual orientation and ultimately lived a tragic and short life.

Directed by Morten Tyldum and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley and Charles Dance among others.

Comments

comments

Comments are closed.