The silence was deafening. Around me, everyone sat still in awe as the first official test run of the Manhattan Project laid in front of our eyes. The white light from the explosion seemed to reach every corner of the dark room, illuminating every face in the packed theater. I flinched, expecting the sound of the bomb to reverberate throughout the room. Seconds passed. Minutes. It was only once I had finally relaxed that the blast screamed through the overhead speakers. Only a man with a true grasp of filmmaking can take something the audience expects and turn it onto its head.
On July 21st, award-winning director Christopher Nolan’s new passion project Oppenheimer was released to the global public. The three-hour biopic follows the life and story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, an American physicist often credited as the “father of the atomic bomb.” In a fierce box-office competition with Greta Gerwig’s summer blockbuster Barbie, a rivalry covered in the CHAT’s very own Summer Recap, many did not have high expectations going into the movie. It is rather unusual for a three hour long, partially black and white biopic intended for history buffs, to gain so much public attention; however, no one can deny the magic that Nolan brings to the big screen. Made famous for his complex narratives, intricate storytelling and gorgeous cinematography, Christopher Nolan already has several box-office hits under his belt. Interstellar is a particular favorite of mine, which is likely why I had high expectations going into Oppenheimer–and I was not disappointed.
Told through the perspective of Oppenheimer himself, or Oppie, as his friends and colleagues referred to him, the movie welcomes you into an intimate view of the fervor of a young man. We follow him through the progression of his career, and as he gains a certain level of infamy for his ties to communism, something that would place him under intense scrutiny for the duration of his life. However, his intelligence also became well known, which is what got him appointed as the lead in the Manhattan Project in the first place. It is at this point in the movie that I really began to feel invested. The moral agony Oppenheimer puts himself through for his contribution to the deaths of thousands in Hiroshima and Nagasaki grips the viewer. I felt repulsed by what he had done, but still found myself rooting for him as he was interrogated for his communist affiliations in the second half of the film.
Nolan possesses an incredible ability to connect his work to the average viewer and touch the emotions we aren’t always so quick to express on our own. Very few people can relate to the moral dilemma of having the blood of thousands on your hands, but everyone has regretted something they’ve done, and tried to make amends for it. It is this very connection to our reality that makes Oppenheimer such a worthwhile watch. Whether you caught it this summer or not, I highly recommend you set aside some time, sooner than later, for a truly memorable movie experience.
