Oppenheimer 2023

I forgot how haunting the score is right from the start. It mirrors Oppenheimer’s anxiety, then slowly shifts into something hopeful when he begins building the Manhattan Project team. Then it turns tense again as they prepare for the first bomb test. And that silence after the explosion is brutal. I still remember watching it in IMAX. When the sound wave finally hit and the seats vibrated, it was a one of a kind experience. Silence is also used in a suffocating way during the town hall scene. The tight lens makes everything feel compressed and suffocating, and I can really feel Oppenheimer’s guilt closing in on him. The cinematography is excellent, especially in how it shapes faces. Hoyte van Hoytema really did a great job here. The black and white sections are good, but they feel more modern than classic. They do not have that old school texture, I just hope Nolan pushed it that far. "Amateur seek the sun. Get eaten. Power stays in the dark". I took this to heart when I first heard this with Strauss, like when I read the quote in Vice 2018: “Beware the quiet man. For while others speak, he watches. And while others act, he plans. And when they finally rest… he strikes.” Both ideas carry that same warning about power operating in silence. The first time I watched this, I was so focused on the anticipation of the atomic bomb that I did not fully appreciate how strong everything else is. The cinematography, acting, score, dialogue, and structure all stand out more now. The story is non linear. Nolan plays with the timeline as the truth slowly surfaces, which makes the narrative more layered but also more demanding to follow. I do want to rate this higher, but the intricateness of the politics and the long runtime make it harder for me to fully embrace it. At its core, this film is about ego, politics, power, misconception, retaliation, loyalty, and manipulation.