Review of Oppenheimer (2023) by Lisalr1 — 22 Jul 2023
Saw OPPENHEIMER on Saturday in its 70mm large format screening. Really a phenomenal piece of filmmaking by writer and director Christopher Nolan, the story centered around the Father of the Atomic Bomb and leader of The Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, J.
Robert Oppenheimer, played to perfection by actor Cillian Murphy. Worth noting, as well is the extraordinary performance by actor Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss. It wouldn't surprise me if both actors receive Oscar nominations for their character portrayals, they are that good! Also great in supporting roles, Emily Blunt (Kitty Oppenheimer), Matt Damon (General Leslie Groves), Jason Clarke (Roger Robb) and an appearance by Gary Oldman as President Truman.
Returning as Nolan's DOP is Hoyte van Hoytema (Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet) whose cinematography in Oppenheimer is breathtaking. Love the new black and white photography created especially for the film, it is sharp, clean and crisp.
Just like in Nolan's 2000 film, Memento, the black and white is juxtaposed with color, perfectly utilized for past and present scenes and as a way to interpret the lead character's moral struggles and ambiguity.
I had no problem with the 3 hour runtime, dialogue was intelligent and the film moves at a good pace thanks to streamlined editing by Jennifer Lame (Tenet) and a strong, haunting score by Ludwig Göransson (Tenet).
Oppenheimer is quite the triumph for Chris Nolan.
This review of Oppenheimer (2023) was written by Lisalr1 on 22 Jul 2023.
Oppenheimer has generally received very positive reviews.
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