Oppenheimer

🔥 4th Watch | Top 100 | Christopher Nolan Despite my mother's objections about it being too loud, I watched Oppenheimer in the culminating hours of Barbenheimer's anniversary, and like my previous rewatches, the film has now become even more of a treat. The nuances of Ludwig van Goransson's original soundtrack guide the viewer's emotions amidst the dense plot of Oppenheimer's complex life. The subtleties of Christopher Nolan's screenplay develop a more refined and powerful narrative. The merits of each performance—with notable standout performances from Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Alden Ehrenreich, Jason Clarke, and Cillian Murphy—make every cast member a valuable addition to the stellar cast ensemble, no matter how minor of a role. The careful delicacy of Ruth De Jong's production design and Ellen Mirojnick's costume design creates an authentic depiction of J. Robert Oppenheimer's textured surroundings. The intricacies of Jennifer Lame's editing create a strong adhesive for the many branches of Oppenheimer's story, smoothening the narrative's flow. The dynamic rhythm of Hoyte van Hoytema's naturalistic cinematography style adds a rich layer of depth to the morally complex titular character of J. Robbert Oppenheimer. Together, these all help fuse into a cinematic masterpiece that has stood unmatched for this decade's entirety, with only weak competition from films like Dune: Part Two, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Across the Spider-Verse. But not only do these attributes fuse into a masterpiece. Upon every rewatch, these attributes become even stronger, fusing into an even more powerful masterpiece. 2024's Dune: Part Two feels like the spiritual successor to 2023's Oppenheimer. Both are long, near-billion-dollar grossing films with dreary subjects by esteemed 21st-century directors known for their visual and musical splendor with overlapping fanbases who widely consider both films to be the best of their respective filmographies. Thus, it feels inevitable to compare the two, especially regarding the cinematography. However, in my eyes, Hoyte van Hoytema's work in Oppenheimer was notably better than Greg Frasier's work in Dune: Part Two. The latest Dune installment without a doubt has gorgeous stills. The colors pop. The framing is precise. Each shot looks gorgeous on a wallpaper... It looks cool. But that's the problem with Dune: Part Two's mise en scène. Greg Frasier is so obsessed with generating 'cool' shots that sometimes he forgets that cinematography is supposed to be a storytelling tool. This isn't to say Dune: Part Two fails completely with its visual storytelling. The now iconic sandworm thrives off its use of kinetic visual storytelling. The infrared lighting in the Prime Geidi sequence paints the Harkonnen home world in a bleak, washed-out palette of black and white. But Dune: Part Two's cinematography rarely helps develop characters, while Oppenheimer's does. The use of shallow depths of field isolates Oppenheimer's internal thoughts. The quaking backgrounds in select scenes question Oppenheimer's sense of stability in the midst of chaos. The absence of color in the Lewis Strauss sequences demonstrates his incomplete perspective of Oppenheimer as a person. The overwhelming green color grade of Oppenheimer's hearing shows Roger Robb's premeditated dominance over Oppenheimer. The novel wide-angle lenses used in extreme IMAX close-ups invade the characters' sense of privacy, making characters like Oppenheimer and Lewis Strauss feel more vulnerable. The Dutch angles used in the Can You Read the Music scene demonstrate Oppenheimer's disorientation with his quantum visions. The violent pull focus as Einstein passes Lewis Strauss shows the massive disorienting impact that moment had on Strauss, paving the way for a resentful relationship with Oppenheimer. This is how Christopher Nolan's latest masterpiece indirectly characterizes J. Robert Oppenheimer. Thus, Hoyte van Hoytema's genius behind the camera was vital for the story. He allowed Nolan to show the characters rather than tell them. Due to Dune: Part Two's lack of character-driven cinematography and an admittedly unhelpful, weak screenplay, Dune: Part Two's characters feel wooden in comparison. The characters in Dune: Part Two are characterized by basic traits, and Paul's development feels unmotivated. And still, Oppenheimer finds plenty of room for the 'cool' sweeping vista shots, more akin to gorgeous wallpapers. This is what elevates Oppenheimer's cinematography from Dune: Part Two's. It's this emphasis on characterization that makes Oppenheimer the better film in general too. Anyhow, I could endlessly explore the nuances that I mentioned in my opening paragraph. The repetition of lines with slightly different meanings. The comforting soundtrack for Leslie Groves. The claustrophobic set design of Oppenheimer's hearing room. The appropriate and non-jarring usage of comedic relief through Leslie Groves. The fact that Oppenheimer says, "In exactly one hour and fifty minutes, we'll know [if we destroyed the world]" and at that exact moment in the runtime, someone says "it worked" directly after Trinity's success. These attributes of the film make up just a sliver of Oppenheimer's genius. Oppenheimer marks yet again another masterpiece by Christopher Nolan. It's a flawless example of a bunch of little things adding up to create something extraordinary. ⬅️ Previous Review: Titanic