Oppenheimer

I am a big fan of theoretical physics. I love Christopher Nolan. I adored Interstellar. When I first heard Nolan was doing a film about Oppenheimer, I was scared to watch it. The atomic bomb is such a sensitive topic, one that has decimated so many lives while keeping the modern world constantly under threat with a push of a button. Nolan is a cinematic genius with a clear adoration of scientific theory and practicality. However, I still worried that I would hate this film because of the actual morality of the film itself. This is a retelling of a man who developed a weapon in a war that historians will argue was about to end anyway. Nolan's work has always contained visual glory and incredible storytelling but Nolan needed to thread the needle carefully this time because this is a real person who invented a real weapon with real consequences. I believe Nolan was the only director capable of telling this piece of tragic history as effectively. Nolan knows this film shouldn't be a celebration of the brilliance of the scientific minds or the opposing political stances of Oppenheimer. It is about guilt, it is about mortality and it is about betrayal. When hundreds of thousands of innocent lives gets taken away, the last thing needed is for a film to show how big and amazing the ones who created it are. Nolan understands this. He does thread that needle. The bomb itself is displayed in its entirety, in its magnificence as well as its horrors. I was in tears during that scene in the auditorium, where the scientists clap as Oppenheimer gets visions of the sins he's done and the charred corpse he steps on. I have seen a lot of documentaries and read a lot about the bomb and what it did to the Japanese people. If this film at any one moment hinted about celebrating the merciless and unneeded killings of the civilians, I would hate it to oblivion, but it doesn't because Nolan is an excellent director. An excellent director who prioritises telling a story and exploring heavy themes rather than exploiting a tragedy. I can say endless praise for this film. The storytelling, the visuals, the practical effects, the acting, the soundtrack, the pacing- it is quite literally perfect filmmaking. However, I don't believe this is Nolan's magnum opus, and that is a compliment to how outstanding he is as a director. I think Interstellar is his best work and that could be heavily biased because I much prefer relativity compared to quantum mechanics. In any case, Nolan's films have been showcasing the best and worst parts of science and that is extremely important in this day and age.