1) July 23rd - 'Unleashing a strong force'.
Before I can even begin to talk about Oppenheimer - a movie that I think it's a masterpiece - I want to address the 'ideological patrol' carried by some very boring people who think the only movie one can praise is 'Sound of Freedom', and try to reduce to value of all art to the measure in which it is politically useful for their political agenda.
Let me say it right away: the cinematic experience is a value in itself. A movie's quality is not merely a by-product of it having the 'right' ideological tropes. To think like that is idiotic, it's a seemingly opposed, but actually equal way of thinking to that used by extreme liberals.
Of course, to achieve the proper 'suspension of disbelief' a movie and its premises can't treat you like an idiot - that goes without saying. But it doesn't have to be agreeing with you.
If I am going to talk about a REALLY good movie, I must insist that caring too much about the politics of it is not the optimal stance. I mean, what's the political bias of Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shinning', for example? Who cares? It's a unique cinematic experience. And that's what I'm talking about.
That is not to suggest that Oppenheimer's plot is not political. It is. And it's open to debate whether or not it got the political aspect of it portrayed in an accurate manner - all I can say so far is that it does not insult one's intelligence.
I will see the movie again tomorrow - to try to look closely at this 'plot' aspect - because I was just blown away the first time around.
2) July 24th - 'Theory Will Only Get You So Far'
I can't remember the last time I wanted to go again to watch a movie on a movie theater.
To begin with, on Monday the movie theater complex had more spectators than on Sunday. This would have made no sense if it was not for the 'barbenheimer' effect, that is getting people out to the movies in a huge way to see either Oppenheimer or the detestable 'Barbie' (no, I have not seen it, but the trailer alone is enough to make you feel dumber just for watching it).
I don't mean to talk too much about the plot, but it suffices to say for our purposes here that the movie follows the life and career of Robert J. Oppenheimer as he finds his way into the subatomic secrets of nature, later heading the Manhattan project to produce the first atomic bomb, and finally as he wages an uneven battle for his reputation while having to live with the extreme burden of guilt for having unleashed capabilities for the potential and palpable nuclear apocalypse.
The Christopher Nolan movie, in a way, is like a long and engaging montage sequence, with the story being told in a non-linear narrative, with two series of hearings permeating all the movie - one series for the failed renewal of Oppenheimer's security clearance, and another a failed series of Congressual confirmation hearings for a cabinet position for the movie's antagonist Admiral Strauss.
The seamless quality of the filming and the editing create a narrative that, in its best moments, it's almost like a choreographed ballet, through which Nolan proceeds to gracefully crunch a huge amount of exposition information to allow us to understand the story.
The pace of storytelling is relentless, but engaging. At one point I checked my watch to see how long I'd been in the theater, since I had no idea - to find that the first hour of the movie had flown by me.
Director Nolan only finally presents us with a full standard-edited sequence in the first nuclear bomb test - the Trinity program. And it's breathtaking. We all have seen this same atomic test scene in numerous other movies - but this one is something else.
The greatest weapon is silence. After the crafty buildup of tension in the final preparations, with Hitchcock-like violin music and great acting all around, comes the detonation - and Nolan uses what it feels like a minute of almost full silence to stun us with the reactions of all the characters involved in the Manhattan project. And of course, when the sound of the blast does come, it is experienced as something louder than anything you've ever heard - by contrast.
There's an underlying revenge plot that is really engaging, as the bureaucrat Admiral Strauss attempts to kill the career and the reputation of the genius protagonist as payback for real and imagined slights.
The dialogue is top notch, and so is the cast, in an ensemble piece that is admirable.
The psychological drama is tempered with a sense of adventure, with the Oppenheimer brothers' love for the desert, the building of Los Alamos and basically the epic dimension of the scientific developments of the era that the movie covers.
But underneath it all it's the promethean dimension of Oppenheimer's story that is most engaging of all, and specially for me, now, at the edge of WW3 and nuclear conflict, the move is at times nothing short of terrifying.
I guess we are all, like the physicist, 'trying not to blow up the world' even while we unleash hidden forces.
Okay now I definitely have to go see! Lol
Yessss! I must see this movie! I've been hearing about it from different sources but you talented writer did a tremendous job reviewing it. Thank you and May God Bless You 🙏🏻❤️