Oppenheimer (Christoper Nolan, 2023) Cillian Murphy et al.
Like many major biopics, this concentrates mostly on the central character – and the actor playing him – risking the neglect of some of the historical context. In this case, the people who were vaporised in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and those who survived, are not given much consideration – compared to the hours devoted to the personality of one man. And one other – the character played by Robert Downey, whose only importance is that he was posthumously portrayed by a great actor.
When they make the film about Netanyahu (Bibi?) no doubt his own problems will be given much more coverage than those of the million Arabs he will have 'ethnically cleansed'.
The film received critical acclaim. Critics praised Oppenheimer primarily for its screenplay, cast performances (particularly Murphy, Blunt, and Downey), and visuals; it was frequently ranked as one of Nolan's best films, and of 2023, although some criticism was aimed towards the writing of the female characters. Hindustan Times reported that the film was also hailed as one of the best films of the 21st century. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 495 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "Oppenheimer marks another engrossing achievement from Christopher Nolan that benefits from Murphy's tour-de-force performance and stunning visuals." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 89 out of 100, based on 69 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 93% overall positive score, with 74% saying they would definitely recommend the film.
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded Oppenheimer a perfect four out of four stars, describing it as "magnificent" and "one of the best films of the 21st century". The A.V. Club's Matthew Jackson deemed it a "masterpiece", adding that "it's Christopher Nolan's best film so far, a step up to a new level for one of our finest filmmakers, and a movie that burns itself into your brain". Empire's Dan Jolin labeled it a "masterfully constructed character study", taking particular note of Murphy's performance and van Hoytema's IMAX cinematography. Peter Suderman writing for Reason magazine said that the film leaves the viewer with a sense of "fear and foreboding about the horror of full-on nuclear conflict in the wake of the nuclear bomb. Humanity is both great and terrible. Oppenheimer isn't just a movie—it's a warning."
Matt Zoller Seitz, writing for RogerEbert.com gave Oppenheimer a full four stars rating. He lauded Nolan's storytelling, exploration of Oppenheimer's character, and the film's technical achievements, concluding: "As a physical experience, Oppenheimer is something else entirely—it's hard to say exactly what, and that's what's so fascinating about it". Peter Travers described the film as a "monumental achievement" and "one of the best films you'll see anywhere". Caryn James of BBC Culture similarly termed it "boldly imaginative and [Nolan's] most mature work yet", adding that it combined the "explosive, commercially-enticing action of The Dark Knight trilogy" with the "cerebral underpinnings" of Memento, Inception and Tenet. IGN critic Siddhant Adlakha gave Oppenheimer 10/10, describing it as "a three-hour biopic that plays like a jolting thriller" and Nolan's most "abstract" work yet.
Saibal Chatterjee from NDTV rated the film 4.5 stars out of 5 and stated: "Oppenheimer, a cinematic achievement of blinding brilliance, achieves a sublime combination of visual grandeur, technical flair, emotional intimacy and an examination of the limits of human endeavor and ambition". In August 2023, it ranked number 3 on Collider's list of "The 20 Best Drama Movies of the 2020s So Far," writing that Nolan "explores the world's obsession with destructive nuclear weapons from the perspective of their creator; using the Greek myth of Dante [sic] as an inspiration, Oppenheimer makes it clear that once this type of power is unleashed, it is bound to be used again."
Despite praising the film's themes and performances, CNN's Brian Lowry believed that "Nolan juggles a lot, in a way that somewhat works to the movie's detriment". While praising how the film acknowledges the contribution of "American scientists and American enterprise", Brett Mason complained it omits the crucial contributions of non-Americans that ensured the work was able to commence as early as December 1941: "Nolan completely ignores the crucial role that British science and Australian physicist Mark Oliphant played in jump-starting the quest." Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Justin Chang staunchly defended Nolan's accurate depiction of how Oppenheimer could not see the true victims of his work. Chang wrote that instead of satisfying "representational completists" by detouring to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, "Nolan treats them instead as a profound absence, an indictment by silence".
For IndieWire's annual critics poll, of which 158 critics and journalists from around the world voted in, Oppenheimer placed second in their Best Film list, with 69 overall mentions and 17 first-place votes. Nolan was also ranked second on the Best Director list, while his screenplay placed eighth. Murphy was the highest-placed actor on the Best Performance list (fourth overall), while Van Hoytema's work topped the Best Cinematography list. Oppenheimer also appeared in over 310 critics' year-end lists of the best films released in 2023, and was ranked first in 72 lists.
Peter Bradshaw:
This is the big bang, and no one could have made it bigger or more overwhelming than Nolan. He does this without simply turning it into an action stunt – although this movie, for all its audacity and ambition, never quite solves the problem of its own obtuseness: filling the drama at such length with the torment of genius-functionary Oppenheimer at the expense of showing the Japanese experience and the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Guardian.
as above
Garry Gillard | New: 2 January, 2024 | Now: 8 January, 2024