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 (081023)
Oppenheimer is an exciting biopic about the world-renowned scientist, Robert
Oppenheimer who was known for playing dice with the universe. He developed the
ideas that led to the development of the atomic bomb and headed the team that
developed it. Although the film is one hundred and eighty minutes long, it is
never boring or never feels overlong (unlike Beau is Afraid which could have
been cut a bit). It is a high point in the career of writer/director Christopher
Nolan who is usually excellent anyway, and it elevates everyone involved in the
film. It was one of the two best American films I have seen this year, the other
was Past Lives. It is hard for me to imagine any living director doing a better
job adapting the source material than Nolan. Like Denis Villeneuve, he has a
special knack for doing brilliant science based and/or sci-fi films. Perhaps
only the late Stanley Kubrick could have done it better.
The film is at the center of a media phenomenon called Barbenheimer which has
been discussed much online. The media made much of the fact that two blockbuster
films that seemed like polar opposites. A light female focused fantasy film vs a
heavy masculine centered dramatic biopic-both released in one day. This was one
of the most transparent examples of counter programming I have seen. It caused
some commentators to humorously dare viewers to see them both as double features
which a surprising amount of people actually did.
Encouraged by the hype and advanced positive reviews the films proceeded to sell
out many theatres and broke records for weekend attendance. As a result, Barbie
(which in all fairness is a shorter movie so it can be shown more times) grossed
over 200 million winning the rating competition while Oppenheimer grossed around
a hundred a million. These huge box office returns occurred in just three days,
causing cinemas to have the third highest grossing weekend ever. This is even
more impressive because it happened in a year in which many expected
blockbusters like
the Flash, The Haunted Mansion and Indiana
Jones and the Dial of Destiny either flopped or failed to perform as well as
expected.
Oppenheimer has superb acting by the whole cast and a superior, totally
involving script. The film was based on the well-regarded novel, "American
Prometheus" by Kai Bird and Martin J, Sherwin. The title refers to the
mythological figure that was punished by the Gods for bringing fire to mortals.
In an analogous way, some believe that Oppenheimer also shared knowledge that
humans were not mature or evolved enough to handle, Similar themes were explored
in the Frankenstein and Day the Earth Stood Still films.
The film is ambitious and has a highly complex structure. The timeline jumps
around between the physicist's school years, his work at Los Alamos, and his
later security hearings, and it also includes an emotionally charged scene after
atomic bombs are dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Most of the film is shot in
color and shows Oppenheimer’s perspective but there are also black and white
scenes that are from the perspective of his friend eventually turned enemy-Lewis Strauss. The magnificent film also weaves together romantic liaisons,
laboratory lectures, court room drama scenes, political intrigues and teaching
sessions, and almost everything is riveting and involving.
Oppenheimer delves deeply into the scientific ideas behind the bomb, but the
main theme is how politicians use and dispose of great people that help them
after they no longer need them. This really happened to the title character as
well as to many other historical figures such as Joan of Arc, Leon Trotsky and
Thomas Pain, the latter was punished for being critical of religion by being buried in
unconsecrated ground.
Cillian Murphy is completely believable playing the soft-spoken, restrained and
but aloof lead character, a role which has almost nothing in common with the
part he is best known for, Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders, who is brutal, loud,
and street mart thug rather than bookish and soft spoken intellectual like
Oppenheimer, He has also had many fruitful collaborations with director
Christopher Nolan, playing Scarecrow in The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005-2012), as
well as important parts in
Inception
(2010) and
Dunkirk
(2017.) One of his best
but lesser-known performances was in Ken Loach’s in The Wind that Shakes the
Barley (2007), the most Irish film in this very Irish actor’s resume. Murphy
plays Oppenheimer as scientifically brilliant, but politically naïve. At one
point someone correctly says of him,” How can anyone who knows so much be so
blind?” This character trait opens the door to his persecution and partial
downfall.
Oppenheimer is put in charge of the Manhattan Project whose purpose is to
develop a functional atomic bomb before our enemies the Nazis and our then
allies, the Russians, Things go smoothly at first largely because Jim Gordon is
his boss. He’s a tough but fair commanding officer (played by a solemn and
earnest Mat Damon) who lets the scientists bend the rules a little as long as
they deliver. His biggest concern is that the info does not reach the Nazis
through spies or traitors.
Robert Oppenheimer witnesses the Los Alamos blast (my dad in real life witnessed
a bomb experiment which made the film even more relevant to me) where he
delivers his most famous line: “Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds,”
Before that he said the same line in a more humorous setting during his first
sexual encounter with his communist lover, Jean. She sees some writing in
Sanskrit on the wall and she asks him to read it which he does as they start
doing it suggesting that the power to kill can be intoxicating and arousing.
The quote which comes from the Bhagavad Gita is not as big of an exaggeration as
you might think. Scientists speculated that the bomb could have caused a chain
reaction that potentially could have led to the entire world being annihilated.
The irreverent use of the line has gotten some criticism from Hindu audiences.
After the bombings, Robert is heralded as a savior of democracy and even gets
his face on the cover of Time Magazine, but when he starts to support some
left-wing causes, he gets into hot water with Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr in
perhaps his finest role since Chaplin.) Straus is the chairman of the U.S Atomic
Energy Commission who starts proceedings against Oppenheimer to take away his
security clearance. The way the film depicts it Strauss was motivated to tear
down Oppenheimer in order the help his own career and he also wanted to get
revenge for Oppenheimer badmouthing him to Albert Einstein (which according to
the film never happened), who is depicted almost as Robert’s patron saint in the
film I (likeably played by the Scottish actor, Tom Conti)
If the film has a flaw, it is that the female characters are not very well
developed. They are absent for most of the film then they show up in some
integral scenes appearing seemingly out of nowhere. But since the film is
already three hours, it cannot cover everything. But the women do figure
prominently in the red scare sequences. One of the best scenes involves
Oppenheimer’s steady, supportive wife, Katherine (masterfully played by Emily
Blunt) who is suffering and looking worse for the wear steps outside her
proscribed social role and shows some gumption when she forcefully pleads that
her husband defend himself against enemies. Also, Robert’s fierier tempered and
moody mistress, Jean (played by the Marvel U’s new Black Widow, Florence Pugh)
who tried but failed to make Oppenheimer convert to communism has some great
scenes in the second half of the film. Years after he got married and he split
from her; she plays on his sympathy and demands that he console her when she is
deeply depressed. They briefly rekindle their passionate physical relationship
in a one-night stand which has terrible long-term repercussions later.
The film does not question the issue of whether it was necessary to drop the
bombs to win the war and we never see the consequences from the Japanese side .
A government official argues that if the bombs were not dropped the Americans
would have had to do a ground invasion and many more American lives would have
been unnecessarily lost, but some historians claimed that the war was basically
over by then anyway. This topic was probably not explored because it would have
taken away from the view of Oppenheimer as a blameless heroic martyr and the
righteousness of the US military industrial complex. Viewers of the film should
look at some alternate sources of info outside the book and film to get
alternate views on the topic. For instance, an excellent Japanese film by Shohei
Imamura, Black Rain (89) and the novel it was based on depict the horrific cost
in human lives in a in a very graphic, honest, historically accurate, and
powerful manner.
The character of Oppenheimer as he is depicted in the film is not without flaws.
As I mentioned earlier, he cheats on his ever-faithful wife. Risks his career by
associating with communists including his brother and releases his scientific
info even though there is a small chance that it could cause a chain reaction
that will annihilate the world. Then in the most controversial scene, Robert
tries to poison a teacher with an apple. The real-life Oppenheimer’s grandson
who was consulted for the film categorically denies that this ever happened and
he has said that no one who knew him really believed that this was true.
Gary Oldman, one of cinema’s greatest character actors, practically steals the
film in a delightful cameo as the brash and insensitive Harry Truman. When
Oppenheimer laments all the blood that was on his hands Truman refers to him as
a “Crybaby scientist,” and right then and there bars him from coming back to the
White House showing he does not understand the full ramifications of what they
did. This all went down a bit differently in real life and Truman actually
waited to make his statement after Oppenheimer was gone.
The director, Christopher Nolan, is known for using 70-millimeter films which
offers ten times the quality of resolution than a typical film. Oppenheimer was
shot entirely on large format film stock combining Panavision 65 mm and Imax 65
mm then it was projected on 70 mm. The intricate screen detail is dazzling and
it adds immeasurably to the film. The film gained lots of early press because
Nolan made a deal that his film would be shown exclusively in all the IMAX
theaters. This shortened the IMAX run of the new Mission Impossible sequel which
put Tom Cruise on the warpath against Nolan, and he has been trying to make his
case in public appearances, but it appears that Nolan has won.
It is very highly recommended that viewers see this film preferably at least one
time on 70 millimeter or at least on digital IMAX (as I did) which offers much
more depth on the top of the screen. But seeing it just once probably won’t
allow you to absorb all its splendor and plot intricacies. Nolan should be
commended for doing his part with this monumental film in firing a shot in the
war to preserve serious big screen cinema. Much can happen between now and next
year, but it almost certain that this film will get multiple Oscar nominations
including best director, best film and, screenplay and/or perhaps best actor for
Cillian Murphy and best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jr. It is one of the
best-looking and sounding films of the year, and it should also get some
technical nominations. And it will richly deserve all of its accolades and
potential nominations. The release of this film is one of the great movie events
of this year.
Note: The four-star rating is for the 70 mm and digital IMAX versions only. I’m
not sure how the film would play on TV, but I suspect it would still vastly
outclass most biopics.
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