Nolan presents Oppenheimer with an air of impartiality while cleverly also condemning the father of the atomic age but not without empathy. Oppenheimer’s love for Jean differs from his love for Kitty, and Nolan, refreshingly, doesn’t judge. A woman with mental health issues is upfront with Oppenheimer, and the two begin a doomed and torrid affair spanning years. His most frequent partner is the passionate but distant Florence Pugh’s, Jean Tatlock. Oppenheimer has several affairs, something that Kitty, while never condoning, seems resigned. The way women are allowed to be so multifaceted also allows Nolan to explore non-traditional relationships. The women in Nolan’s Oppenheimer bucks against the trope of warmth and nurturing they are as cold and pragmatic as Oppenheimer himself. “You don’t get to commit sin and then ask all of us to feel sorry for you when there are consequences.” She is also given the film’s thesis statement as she scolds her husband. Emily Blunt, as Kitty, is an alcoholic, pragmatic, and ill-equipped to be a mother. They are still largely ciphers they tend to be the holders of wisdom here. Still, in Oppenehiemer, they fare better than they usually do in Nolan films. It is not only the film’s best scene but also Nolan’s best scene of his career thus far.Įven though his women are more fully realized than in his previous work, he still seems to struggle to conceive them as something beyond tropes and symbols. In particular, in a scene in which he gives a speech just after the bomb has been dropped, he is racked with guilt and realization of the changing world. The effect of the carnage is distressing, giving us a rare insight into his emotional state. Instead, he shows Oppenheimer watching the footage of the destruction and the way the wages of his sins weigh upon him. Nolan wisely doesn’t show the devastation of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. The majority all-white cast, a Nolan staple, seems intentional in this case as the film subtly explores how whiteness and its ties to America’s patriotism often limit how we view non-Americans, white or not. What drives Oppenheimer are the many conversations from many different angles, as Nolan and van Hoytenma explore the rationalizations both Oppenheimer and the military spin out to justify their actions. He does it in a multitude of ways chief among theme is focusing on how Oppenheimer became a willing tool for the American military-industrial-complex only to find himself with that very same apparatus focused on him all mixed with his fellow scientists arguing about the moral and ethical implications of what exactly building the bomb means for the world. In this sense, the most impressive aspect of Oppenheimer is how the film doesn’t judge Oppenheimer, the man, but Nolan does. Hoyte van Hoytenma’s camera captures his increasingly hollowed-out facade with a sense of compassionate fury. Murphy’s performance of a man gutted by regret and anxiety over the consequences of his action is mesmerizing. Nolan gives us glimpses into Oppenhemier’s psyche, and we learn a great deal about his flaws and infidelities, but Nolan does in such a way as to be balanced. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) stands before a cheering crowd.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |