Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer will be the 11th theatrical film in the director's ever-growing
career, and with his previous work filling the void of many different genres, it seems
that this time around, the filmmaker is targetting a genre that has been on his mind for a while.
The biographical film is one that relates to Nolan's history in Hollywood, and while he
couldn't do that originally, now he's aiming to fulfil that passion with a story on one of
the most enigmatic figures from World War 2. In this video, I'm going to be discussing all the
reasons why I think Oppenheimer is the perfect choice for Christopher Nolan's next film,
tackling his filmmaking style, his passion towards it and the potential of the overall story.
But before I get into it, if you want to see more updates and videos on the work of directors
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lets dive into why Oppenheimer can be the perfect Christopher Nolan Movie.
So Christopher Nolan is one of the most succesful modern directors in Hollywood and has produced
a train of huge blockbuster films and series with say The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception,
Interstellar, Dunkirk and The Prestige. That's just to name about a half of the great work
he's put to screen, and add to the mix that his films have been nominated for over 35 oscars
and that he's grossed over $5 billion at the worldwide box office, and it's understable
why every project he makes comes into mainstream viewers prime attention. The blockbuster auteur
is front and centre when it comes to modern science fiction work, action films, thrillers
and numerous other genres. And the anticipation for his next project is always sky high. But
this time, the director is producing a biopic on J. Robert Oppenheimer set during World War II
and his development of the atomic bomb, and with the announcement of that, film fans of
all ages have become excited, especially with Nolan fans like myself,
who know that the filmmaker has been passionate in making a biopic
for many years. Currently, Oppenheimer has a release date of July the 21st 2023, and it will
be released exclusively in theaters in standard formats, IMAX 35mm and 70mm projection.
Coming to why Oppenehimer is Nolan's passion project, the filmmaker has previously attempted
making one, and that came with his early career script for a Howard Hughes movie. He
famously stated that this was the best screenplay he has ever written, but in the
time during the development of that script, Martin Scorsese had also make a similar movie in The
Aviator. Nolan gave a gesture of respect in abandoning the project and it's now that 2
decades later, he finally is coming back to the biographical drama genre to make a movie about
Oppenheimer. As a biopic, the film will offer a greatly different route from Nolan’s previous
movies, and with him moving into a different one, it will once again be a fascinating move
to see unfold. Every film he makes tends to bring the flair of a different genre, but as I said,
this one will be special, due to the passion he's always had towards it. Of course, we
expect the conventions of a Nolan picture to be there whether it be through science, thrills,
action or drama, and the filmmaker will always bring a sense of the unexplored too. Seeing
his take on the existential power of the atomic bomb and it's creation, whether that's involving
his core re-occuring themes using time, will offer a unique position with the story of
Oppenheimer. I think with an infuse of his style, he could totally update and bring a
fresh sensibility to what a biographical drama is, and maybe one that attract more younger viewers
in the process to. Not to mention that the cast is absolutely stacked and that this will attract
more people to the project right from the start. Just in the main line of many people
cast, the list includes, Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr.,
Josh Peck, Jason Clarke, and Matt Damon. Alongside the many others included, Nolan has selected
an incredibly talented group, with some of the individuals even working with him in the past.
There is no doubt that these actors will be able to accurately portray the people that took
part in Oppenheimer's story and the Manhattan project. But yes, he's bringing all the goods
with Oppeneheimer, and it just shows that on the surface level how big he could be going with
it and how most actors in Hollywood want to work on the film too. I have already done a full video
on the cast, so I would recommend checking that out in the description if you want to
know more about everyone involved. But moving on to the next point, I think
it's key that I discuss the potential in the story of Oppenheimer, which just in it's summary creates
all the intrigue that a Christopher Nolan movie should have. Oppenheimer's source material
is the Pulitzer Prize winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert
Oppenheimer, and Nolan has adapted it into a screenplay. Of course, J. Robert Oppenheimer
was an American theoretical physicist and the head of the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War
II, and he took part in the Manhattan Project, known for the development of the
atomic bomb. The laboratory grew and Oppenheimer was given the huge role of keeping the workers
under control and during his co-development of nuclear power, he was one of the first to
witness the Trinity test, which was the first detonation of a nuclear bomb in history. It was
known that after test, he famously quoted the words of a Hindu scripture in the Bhagavad Gita,
saying, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." So we have all the intelligence,
complexity, yet guilt of this man potentially being on display, and with him being brought to
life by the great Cillian Murphy, I think were definitely going to get quite the performance
filled with anxiety, that the actor has portrayed really well before in previous roles.
In relating to that motivation, Oppenehimer is the kind of film that fit's perfectly within
Nolan's filmography because it deals with the central themes that a lot of great movies have.
Coming back to the idea of guilt, Oppenheimer is probabaly one of the main historical figures
that alligns with that idea, and seeing a man go through the guilt of possibly creating the
destroyer of worlds creates another grey character for Nolan to bring to screen. Most of Nolan's
central protagonists deal with the idea of guilt, look noneother then Inception with
Cobb, and the story of Oppenehimer is fittingly appropriate once again. He can dive into how
this man felt towards what he was developing and then after, with how the bombs that were
dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki did help to end a destructive war. There's deep complexity
in the events and also in the minds of many of the characters in this particular story. Then
there's also the theme of time, which could be connected in multiple ways, whether it's
the race against time to create an atom bomb or how Nolan uses timelines to tell this story.
Because the story of Oppenehimer stretches across a long period of time, Nolan could
quite easily jump between moments in his life, or do it in a biographical way in which someone,
maybe Oppenheimer himself, narrates moments of his past. Look at the way Nolan took Dunkirk,
which could have just been a straightforward telling of those events, but instead, he used
three different timelines of the sea, the air and the land, before later bringing them together,
to tell a very compelling story. Time is present in some shape or form in every Nolan
picture and I'm sure he'll try to do something quite effective here too. What we know is that
Nolan is going use the story of Oppenheimer to once again tackle the morality of that
individual and also of the situation as a whole in it's pros and cons. We'll likely see the
construction of a personal identity and how that changes over the years and after the second
world war. It will be interesting to see what the main message ends up being, but as I've discussed,
I think Nolan's primary themes of time, guilt and personal morality, will be on full
display and perfect for this telling of Oppenheimer.
And finally, we come to Christopher Nolan's immersive filmmaking. Oppenheimer has used
IMAX 65mm and 65mm large-format film for it's filming, and it was previously announced that it
would be the first feature film to shoot some of it's scenes in IMAX black and white analog
photography. We have no idea what those scenes will currently include but having black and
white IMAX for the first time, is definitely going to be a stylistic choice that will get
people talking. Not to forget that with The Dark Knight, Nolan really pushed the usage of IMAX
and now we see it used on almost every big blockbuster film today. He keeps this format
available to view in his home entertainment releases, and throughout his career it has
continuously looked stunning. From the bank robbery or truck flip scene in The Dark Knight,
to the docking scene in Interstellar and the plane crash in TENET, there are countless
examples in the past of Nolan using this format to it's full practical potential. And speaking of
practical, whether we see any action or not, Nolan is once again going to strive for an
extreme level of realism that most filmmakers working in the industry today don't quite match.
Finally, the filmmaker is working with some of the best in the industry to bring
Oppenheimer's story to life. He's re-teaming with cinematogrpaher Hoyte Van Hoytema to bring
all of the sweeping visuals and IMAX shots to screen, editor Jennifer Lame to conquer the
task of putting his next puzzle together and composer Ludwig Goransson, who will surely
create another standout and inventive score for us to play on repeat. So if everything pays off,
Oppenheimer has the potential to be one of Nolan's best films and I personally can't
wait to see what he does with it. I myself liked Tenet and have appreciated it so much more on
rewatch, but with this being a biography, I think Nolan is going to make a much different
film this time around. It will still have his creative stamp on it, but it opens up the
opportunity to do something new within the boundaries of a biography. But with his
creative approach present, this story is also just the perfect one to allign with the choices he
typically makes too. Let's see what he does with the material,
and hopefully it will be well worth the wait.
But that was my video discussing why I believe Oppenheimer can be the perfect film for
Christopher Nolan. I think with a combination of the story, Nolan's passion, his filmmaking style
posing new biographical possibilities and yet, his re-occuring central themes, the project can
be one of the director's very best and showcase just how far he's developed in his career.
I know that TENET wasn't for everyone, but it's clear that whenever Nolan makes a film
he tends to mix up the genre and storytelling involved while still keeping the identity of his
filmmaking intact. So Oppeneheimer is essentially going to be that biographical movie
he's always wanted to make and I personally think he can do great things with it. We'll only get
that answer once the film comes out in July 2023, but based on his previous movies, the
teaser trailers for them usually come about about a year before they release. So we may be seeing
our first footage very soon and we'd be able to give more of a perspective towards what he
is going for. But just on a surface level, do you think Oppenheimer is a great choice for
Nolan's filmmaking style and what would you like to see him do in the film from
a stylistic standpoint. Let me know down below in the comments section.
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