This year is already shaping up to be exceptional, with new films arriving on a regular basis and keeping fans entertained without a break, and it doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon. While it has already released some highly anticipated films like Evil Dead Rise, John Wick: Chapter 4, Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the following months have a lot more in store for moviegoers.
Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer is one such film that many believe will be revolutionary. The mind behind The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, and Interstellar has returned to create another masterpiece, but this time it will be centered on a World War II personality. The trailer suggests that the film could be a contender for the Oscars next year, and fans have many reasons to be thrilled about it.
A World War II Biopic in Nolan's Style
For those unfamiliar with Christopher Nolan's films, he primarily experiments with time and reality, offering viewers a mind-boggling experience, as witnessed in Inception and Interstellar, which call for at least a couple of re-watches to comprehend the concept entirely. In the new film, Nolan will reportedly convey the story of someone's life as he walks through their personal history.
While many of us are aware that nuclear scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) was a key figure in the creation of the atomic bomb, and many regarded him and his fellow scientists as heroes during World War II, the film may tell a different story, particularly from Robert's perspective. In an interview with Total Film Magazine, Nolan discussed the story's selection and what it entails on a larger scale. In his own words,
"We're trying to tell the story of somebody's life and their journey through personal history and larger-scale history, and so the subjectivity of the story is everything to me. We want to view these events through Oppenheimer's eyes. And that was the challenge for Cillian that I set him, to take us on this journey; that was the challenge for Hoyte van Hoytema, my designer, my whole team: how do we view this extraordinary story through the eyes of the person who was at the heart of it? All of our decisions on how to make this film were based on that real premise."
The real-life of Oppenheimer will be at the heart of the film, guiding Nolan's filmmaking process every step of the way.
A Star-Studded Cast & Talented Crew
There is always at least one returning cast member in every Christopher Nolan film, whether it is Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine, or Morgan Freeman, but he also chooses a pretty remarkable ensemble, possibly to bring out the best in terms of character representation.
Both the main and supporting casts in the upcoming film Oppenheimer are among the most impressive we've seen in a long time. Cillian Murphy (Thomas Shelby in Peaky Blinders) stars as J. Robert Oppenheimer, but that's not all, as Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow and A Quiet Place) plays Oppenheimer's wife, Kitty.
In addition, the film's supporting cast includes Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Matt Damon (The Martian), David Dastmalchian (The Suicide Squad and Dune), Florence Pugh (Black Widow and Dune: Part Two), and Jack Quaid (The Boys and The Hunger Games). Furthermore, Oscar-winner Ludwig Goransson, who composed music for Tenet, The Mandalorian, and Black Panther, is on board with Oppenheimer, ensuring no detail is overlooked.
Practical Effects Instead of CGI
Oppenheimer depicts one of history's most iconic events, the Trinity nuclear test in New Mexico in 1945. Their test explosion in the New Mexican desert apparently possessed the energy of 25 kilotons of TNT and caused vibrations that spread throughout New Mexico. With today's technology, replicating those scenes with CGI wouldn't be too difficult, but it would cost a significant expenditure.
Nolan, on the other hand, chose to recreate the Trinity test with real explosives rather than CGI. This helps the feeling of experiencing Oppenheimer's real-life firsthand, as audiences will see an actual nuclear explosion on screen.
Nolan has a strong desire for the film to be enjoyed in theaters, particularly with the IMAX experience. Since the film was shot in 65mm screen resolution, which is ideal for large screens, the practical effects used in the movie would only enhance the experience. However, It wasn't simple, as Nolan noted how difficult it was to produce practical effects without CGI. In the same Total Film interview, he stated:
"I think recreating the Trinity test [the first nuclear weapon detonation in New Mexico] without the use of computer graphics was a huge challenge to take on. Andrew Jackson – my visual effects supervisor, I got him on board early on – was looking at how we could do a lot of the visual elements of the film practically, from representing quantum dynamics and quantum physics to the Trinity test itself, to recreating, with my team, Los Alamos up on a mesa in New Mexico in extraordinary weather, a lot of which was needed for the film, in terms of the very harsh conditions out there – there were huge practical challenges."
Oppenheimer hits theaters on July 21, 2023.