Oppenheimer: as epic as you’d expect an A-bomb movie to be

With a budget of $100 million dollars, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has been highly anticipated and, quite frankly, better be good.

This historical thriller captures the story of the ‘daddy’ of the atomic bomb, Dr J. Robert Oppenheimer and events during WWII that led to the achievement and aftermath of the invention of the bomb.

The film is a dense and intricate period drama that delivers a great storyline, haunting score (by Ludwig Goransson), and superb picture quality (65mm IMAX film, at last check).

While the film is three hours in duration and dialogue-heavy, such screen time is justified to capture an important moment in history. Essential subplots are juxtaposed in Nolan’s typical non-linear narrative, cutting between the ‘present day’ black-and-white trial of Oppenheimer and colour scenes capturing historical events of the unnerving lead-up to the production of the first atomic bomb.

Director Nolan claims there is not one CGI effect in this masterpiece, staying true to his signature style of using models, mastering cinematography, and keeping manipulated visual effects to a minimum. In fact, he prides himself on the perfect execution of the moment of the explosion of the first trial atomic bomb, the Trinity.

Nolan insisted he recreate the exact details, adapting invaluable archival footage and all his resources to realistically recapture history. In watching this climactic achievement, he succeeds in his dramatic emotive impact, leaving the audience in awe, fully immersed, excited, and of course on the edge of dread (this is nuclear energy we’re talking about, after all).

The powerful talented cast includes Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jnr, Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, and Rami Malek, who is a far cry from his Bohemian Rhapsody stint. In fact, everywhere you look pops up another famous face, even if a for a few minutes or seconds, giving trainspotters great exercise.

In as far as biopics go, Oppenheimer has to be one of the finest, tantalising with its fascinating content and exasperating in its genius auteur direction.  Nolan has sophisticatedly combined cinema art with intricate layered narrative and added splashes of bold mainstream appeal The global arms race between the Germans, Russians and Americans and the gravitas of controlling war with a weapon of mass destruction is as frightening and relevant today as it is was during the first world wars.

Like in the film, it’s not so much who wins this arms race but what governments do with such power. Nolan cleverly weaves this epic saga through metacognitive storylines to deliver a film with an enduring ending, that while in no way surprising, delivers such a powerful blow, so gut-wrenching in its stark realisation that mankind is its own worst enemy. The film captivates us, frozen in the pathos of the moment, breathless and devastated as we digest the enormity of what the scientific world has achieved rendering tragic the consequences of the past mistakes of man and wondering about the future mistakes to come.

Annette McCubbin

‘Oppenheimer’ is in cinemas now.