Oppenheimer is a war thriller film written and directed by ace director Christopher Nolan, starring Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr and Emily Blunt in the lead roles. Based on the life of American physicist J Robert Oppenheimer, this film shows how he was known as the Father of Atom Bomb, with his involvement in the Manhattan project during the Second World War. Also, the film focuses on how a fake case was put up against Oppenheimer by American businessman Lewis Strauss (played by Robert Downey Junior)
People always have a concern about the degree of understanding of a Christopher Nolan film. This is very natural as every Nolan film promises to be mind bending. With absurd theories and concepts coming into play, lot of sci fi elements revolving around, understanding Nolan films is a challenge in itself. Nonetheless, Nolan films have always been entertaining and fun to watch, and Oppenheimer is no exception (except for the fact that Oppenheimer isn't fun). We thought about multiple ways in which Christopher Nolan would present Oppenheimer. This isn't a sci fi concept oriented film, and is rather a biopic. But Nolan being Nolan got to the basics and played with the screenplay all along, so much so that a film of 200 minutes of runtime feels quick. The screenplay has been brilliant here. It's completely timeline related. As many as three timelines are amalgamated with each other. One is about Oppenheimer's life, one about his staged hearing, and one about the final hearing and judgement. The final hearing and judgement has been shown in black and white frame, which creates a striking contrast with the the other two timelines. The direction is just great. Christopher Nolan did not try to over simplify the historical facts or the contemporary events of that time in the film, which results in a very natural screenplay. The director wants the audience to be aware of the events of that time; physics, war, history and everything related to Oppenheimer, to enjoy and relish the film. There are certain moments in the film with sudden jumpscare scenes. Oppenheimer discussing about the probable destruction of an atom bomb and suddenly the screen goes black with some scattered lights and a loud noise. The director makes the viewers feel the impact and importance of the topic of conversation between the characters. This has been done seamlessly. The thrills incorporated in several instances work as intended. Especially the testing of the bomb has been designed to perfection. The sound designing, and the minimal use of cgi makes it super realistic to watch.
The editing has been quick, which results in the film jumping from one timeline to another. This can be a bit difficult to follow and may demand a rewatch. The camera work by Hoyte van Hoytema is really good. The way the situations, the Manhattan project development area, the laboratories and other things are shown makes the film visually stunning. The visuals from the IMAX cameras are delightful.
Talking about the performances, it's been fantastic. Cillian Murphy shines as Oppenheimer and RDJ plays the evil Strauss with great conviction. His makeup and costume design have been done with a lot of effort. One won't even recognise RDJ if not looked closely. The supporting cast has been fab as well.
The surprise element of the film alongwith the screenplay has to be the sound design. It's crazy that even sound can be so metaphorical at times. Although Oppenheimer was determined to drop the bomb on Germany (which was eventually dropped on Japan because of Germany's surrender due to Hitler's death), he is shown to be always concerned with the lives of innocent people which would be severely effected due to the bomb. At several instances Oppenheimer seems to be lost in the thoughts of lives being effected and hence doesn't pay attention to what's going around. The scenes interpreting so are shown as noises being made by several people with their foot, which ultimately signifies the number of thoughts in Oppenheimer's brain. The scene where Oppenheimer finally shares with his members that the bomb has been dropped is brilliantly designed. Oppenheimer suddenly realises the pain and sorrow that innocent Japanese people would be having and sees it's reflection in the room he's currently in. Stepping on a burnt body, to seeing people crying, to feeling like becoming deaf, that scene has become my personal favourite.
And last but not the least, the drama. When Oppenheimer is falsely accused of treason by Strauss, his personal life, extra marital affair, negligence towards hydrogen bomb and many other things are drawn in just to dishonour him. His sorrow is accurately portrayed by Cillian Murphy. When the verdict finally comes in favour of Oppenheimer, he just accepts it without any zeal and that's the peak of acting.
Oppenheimer has been shown to be a physicist who is concerned with his colleagues performance towards developing the bomb, and at the same time has an affair. It's difficult to say which way did Christopher Nolan wanted to show Oppenheimer's character. But Nolan's honesty in showing what's true deserves praise. Although not a typical Nolan film, this film has been enhanced multiple times in cinematic sense by Christopher Nolan. That being said, Christopher Nolan and his trademark Nolanic things continue to shine with Oppenheimer.