Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer

I finally made it to Oppenheimer, the only movie I was interested in seeing this summer, and I was not disappointed. Not in the least.  I love Christopher Nolan's work, starting with Memento (technically Following, was his first, but I saw that afterwards). Since then there has been a fairly steady stream of impressive work, some of it problematic, or even awful like Tenet, (which I'm just guessing in having refused to go . . . at least not yet) but Nolan is always his own man, and as such, always dividing opinion, which Oppenheimer certainly seems to have done.

I had a predilection towards wanting to like Oppenheimer, given the subject has been one I've been obsessed almost my entire life, and having read and loved Bird and Sherwin's epic biography that was the basis of the film. The author's spent twenty-five years researching and writing their book, Co-author Kai Bird, in a forward to Nolan's now-published screenplay commends Nolan for taking the massive, complex biography and transforming it "into visual art that is faithful both to the history and the man."  

Nolan combines his faithfulness to American Prometheus amplifying it magnificently with his command of technical prowess and vision. Each frame is evidence of the love for his subject, and is lavished on with almost painterlike obsession. The pace of the film is amazing.  Simultaneously moving slowly, yet seemingly at the speed of light, its nonlinear progression shifting between color and black and white, in a way that can be dizzing. One is forced to be alert, aware andu tune in at all times.  With a running time of three hours, it demands full attention (I'd recommend a bathroom visit beforehand).  At times this pacing put me to mind of Gurnemanz' line from Wagner's Parsifal:  You see my son, here time becomes space.  This hit home all the more since Albert Einstein, whose Theory on Special Relativity appeared some 30 years after Wagner's libretto, is an integral part of the story.  

By eschewing (other than offering them generally where necessary) details of the science behind the bomb - math, physics, mechanics - and remaining faithful to his source material, Nolan offers a vivid portrait of one of America's most complicated and tragic figures. The emphasis therefore is placed almost solely upon the man himself, as well as the supporting characters; those who built him up, and brought him down.And what characters they are. Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Albert Einstein, Gen. Leslie Groves, Ernest Lawrence, Edward Teller, Lewis Strauss, and a dozen others, all of whom spring forth from the page into vivid life by a cast as remarkable as it is vast.  

At the center of all this - the nucleus if you will - is Cillian Murphy in perhaps his greatest role to date. Murphy appears to have thoroughly studied Oppenheimer, as not only does he bear a striking resemblance, but the mannerisms, the tilt of the head, the seemingly cocksure arrogance that was tempered by a clear vision of the worth (or worthlessness) of others/ There is the smile, the body movement which was athletic but could be both graceful and awkward - it's all there and feels so natural that Murphy seems to disappear entirely into this character. 

Nolan's screenplay presents Oppenheimers as a force of nature . . . larger than life, with an unusual appeal that earns him a certain celebrity status of a movie rockstar with crowds thunderously chanting "Oppie!  Oppie!" but also does not shirk from showing the darker and more difficult sides, from his infidelities that caused damage in his relationships, down to the poisoned apple incident of his Cambridge days (here, for dramatic purposes, Nolan using cyanide, while the actual poison remains unknown).  

One also senses the uneasy decision of General Leslie Groves, in selecting Oppenheimer to head up the Manhattan Project, the two being as diametrically opposed as poles on a magnet. Even so, Groves recognized Oppenheimer's unique genius and was able to put their conflicting politics aside knowing he selected the right man for the job. 

Every story must have a villain, and in Robert Downey, Jr.'s tremendous performance we are given a petty, jealous, vain, weak but still potent and dangerous Lewis Strauss. Strauss, clearly the strongest of Oppenheimer's enemies and worked hard to keep his hands "from holding the knife" that would do him in. So convincing was RDJ I more than once had to resist the urge to boo and hiss.  

The rest of that cast, including Emily Blunt's wrenching Kitty, Florence Pugh's tortured Jean, Matt Damon's charmless General Groves, along with Tom Conti, Rami Malick, Josh Hartnett to name but a few, all deliver equally fine, believable performances. It truly is a remarkable cast.

While during the infamous and unjust kangaroo court of the security hearing we learn of the Oppenheimer's lawyer being kept in the dark about the information being used, of the illegal wire tappings, the raiding of Oppenheimer's trash, the use of his massive FBI file in attempts to tie him to the Communist party, the accusations of providing state secrets to the Russians, Nolan shows us, without specific reference to their being blackmailed, close associations of Oppenheimer turning on him, ultimately resulting in his being stripped of his security clearance even while, begrudingly, acknowleding his service to his country. When there is concern about Kitty's testimony possibly hurting him, Robert insists his wife be allowed to speak and his trust in her, as well as the depth of their love is shown in his words "we've walked through fire together." That hit powerfully, straight to my heart. 

Visually, Oppenheimer is stunning. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema captures lightning (literally) and creates a Los Alamos that is a near mythological take on The Old West. Indeed, when getting her first tour of the new town, an unimpressed Kitty Oppenheimer quips "All it needs is a saloon."  Throughout, van Hoytema ensures Nolan's vision is executed with extraordinary results.    

Jennifer Lame is responsible for, and must be acknowledged for the look and the nonlinear editing mentioned above. That nonlinear look - jumping through eras in the blink of an eye - has brought up several mentions of the work of Terrence Malick (another favorite of mine).  I liked that.  As the film is about the "Father of the Atom Bomb," Lame's editing often employs images that explode across the screen, a repeated visual in the mind of Oppenheimer, coming unexpectedly and the effect is tremendous, and caught me off guard every time.

Wedded to all of this is the near continuous soundtrack provided by Ludwig Göransson's marvelous score, perfectly matching the visuals from moments of glorious wonder to the uncomfortable "tick-tick-tick-ing" underlying the Ground Zero sequence.

At over three hours, Oppenheimer plays out not unlike a Shakespearean tragedy, but like Shakespeare, those hours pass swiftly.  This is a demanding film, and coming to it late as I have, I've heard plenty of criticism, which I can understand, but cannot agree with. Few liberties are taken with the film, which is confirmed by Manhattan Project historian Chris Griffith, who says the those "adjustments made were for understandable artistic reasons."  

Aside from its historical and biographical relevance, Christopher Nolan has given us what I consider to be his greatest work to date, and it's exactly the kind of film I go to the movies for.