When it comes to story telling of magnanimous proportions, with the sole purpose of immersing the audience into a common vision and moving the audience in ways they have not before , no one comes close to the genius of Christopher Nolan. It’s just good old classic god damn brilliant cinema. From the word go, we are at his mercy, in his world, in his ride. He controls us, our minds, our bodies, our emotions for the entire 190 mins, and we surrender whole heartedly to him, as he takes us travelling across time and space of Quantum physics, World War II, the Cold War, the brilliant scientists of their time, working with the patriotic armed forces of their time, under the shadow of the obsessed politicians of their time. A heady cocktail that is a complete package for all Nolan nerds.
The film tells the story of Robert J Oppenheimer (played brilliantly by the Peaky blinders mr popular Cillian Murphy) and his journey from his college years to the invention of the atomic bomb and the post war years, through classic Nolan style of past present future incidents being told at the same time. The lens taken is that of Oppenheimer’s trial to decide on his security clearance (and therefore the credibility of his entire life’s work) in 1954, interspersed with the hearing of Lewis Strauss (played impactful by Robert Downey Junior) to decide his seat at the Cabinet in 1959.
With World War II and Cold War as the backdrop, and the invention and use of the atom bomb against Japan as the main central event, the film revolves around Oppie’s personal and professional passions conflicting with his truth and conscience, over and over again, showing at once his connectedness and disconnectedness with the world he lives in. He is both inside and outside the system. Both the creator and the destroyer. Both the leader of an entire operation and a follower of the powers of his time. Both a believer and a skeptic. Both a womaniser and a loyal husband. Both a communist and a USA patriot. Both a scientist and a human.
He is proud of his invention in the atom bomb, yet hates that it has to be used (“Now I am become death, destroyer of the worlds”). He breaks when his lover commits suicide, and is yet innocent enough with his wife to expect understanding. He sticks to the truth at all costs, even in a trial that he knows is rigged against him throughout, yet naively expecting redemption. He knows and trusts his own genius but is also fully aware of his limitations, constantly looking to learn and collaborate with the best minds around him. It is these multiple, authentic, conflicting paradigms that make the film.
Through Oppenheimer’s demons, Strauss’s political games, General Groves’s friendship (played by the talented Matt Damon), wife Kitty’s pragmatic and frustrated relationship (again the brilliant Emily Blunt), and the many other powerful historical legends character’s individual roles in this journey (ex lover Jean, brother Frank, and fellow scientists and people friends in Lawrence, Einstein, Neil’s Bohr, Teller, among others), Nolan brings to life the dilemmas that we all face today. The film may be a story about the past, but the issues it raises are very much clear and present danger. Is it that Nolan is using a contemporary lens to view the past? Or is that 70 years later, we have learnt nothing as a human race?. By letting us walk through the door to our history, Nolan shows us a window to our future. A future of both hope and misery. Depending on the choices we make today.
As always, Nolan expects the audience’s intelligence to piece the story together. Making us do all the hard work. Remember Tenet, Inception, Interstellar. This is not your easy everyday watch film. This film demands commitment and attention. And only them does it reward you. Good things come to those who work hard. And this movie is no different. And reward it does. And As always, the big screen IMAX effect is felt in every scene, and sound, that swallows you. You feel every dialogue, every character, every moment, every scene, every background score.
One absolute delight of the film is to be part of the scientists community that was thriving across Europe and America through the 1920s to the 1950s. We see Einstein, Neil’s Bohr, Heisenberg, Feynman. Seeing these geniuses who have pretty much defined how we understand the world today, but not only thru their work but also through their emotions, their lives, their camaraderie, their banter, their humanity, is a big highlight of the film, a joy to watch, and is like a little gift to take home with you.
On the whole, a full Nolan-vasool film. Hits exactly the right spot. And makes us hold onto our faith in box office. Thank you Nolan, on behalf of the millions of cinema lovers and creators around the world. Please never ever ever stop!
