Oppenheimer: Cillian Murphy makes powerful impact in atomic epic (2024)

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Oppenheimer: Cillian Murphy makes powerful impact in atomic epic (1)Image source, Universal Pictures

By Paul Glynn

Entertainment reporter

Critics have given positive reviews to Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan's sweeping new biographical thriller about the "father of the atomic bomb".

The film features an all-star ensemble cast led by Cillian Murphy as the US physicist, J Robert Oppenheimer.

The Independent called the "clever, imaginative" film Nolan "at his best", while the Telegraph said actor Murphy "dazzles as the destroyer of worlds".

The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw deemed the movie "flawed, but extraordinary".

Image source, Universal Pictures

Inspired by the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph And Tragedy Of J Robert Oppenheimer, the film tells the story of the enigmatic Manhattan Project scientist, who had a leading role in developing the atomic bomb, changing the course of World War II.

He "gave us the power to destroy ourselves and that had never happened before", director Nolan told BBC Culture editor Katie Razzall.

Commissioned by the US Government, who saw themselves in a nuclear race with the Nazis, in 1945 scientists in New Mexico detonated a test bomb, codenamed Trinity.

Their invention was later used, controversially, to end the war, when an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to devastating effect.

'Performance of his life'

The Telegraph's Robbie Collin awarded five stars, saying: "Nolan's portrait of the father of the nuclear bomb is a triumph, like witnessing history itself being split open."

"Oppenheimer is a film that works simultaneously on the most intimate and cosmic scales," he wrote.

"It's at once a speeding rollercoaster and a skin-tingling spiritual portrait; an often, classically-minded period piece that only Nolan could have made, and only now, after a quarter-century's run-up."

He added: "Playing Oppenheimer from his early 20s to late 50s, the 47-year-old Murphy gives the performance of his life, imbuing Oppenheimer's body with an enthralling nervous eroticism and his voice with a noirish musicality that reminds you of [Humphrey] Bogart."

"A masterfully constructed character study from a great director operating on a whole new level. A film that you don't merely watch, but must reckon with."

Image source, Universal Pictures

In a four-star review in the Guardian, Bradshaw said the film "captures the most agonising of success stories".

"This is the big bang, and no one could have made it bigger or more overwhelming than Nolan," he wrote.

"He does this without simply turning it into an action stunt - although this movie, for all its audacity and ambition, never quite solves the problem of its own obtuseness: filling the drama at such length with the torment of genius-functionary Oppenheimer at the expense of showing the Japanese experience and the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

He described Murphy as "an eerily close lookalike for Oppenheimer... very good at capturing his sense of solitude and emotional imprisonment".

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Writing in the Times, critic Ed Potton, who also awarded the film four stars, hailed Murphy's performance as "explosive in a breathtaking movie".

The Evening Standard's Charlotte Sullivan agreed that the "dark, immersive epic gives Cillian Murphy the role of his career".

Speaking ahead of the film's release, the Irish star told journalists the role had taken "a toll" on him "but in a brilliant way".

  • Who was the real Robert Oppenheimer?

"It was the biggest, most exhilarating challenge," he said.

Co-star Matt Damon revealed he had told his wife he would take a break from acting, unless "Chris Nolan called".

Nolan is best known for his Dark Knight trilogy, as well as films including Inception, Dunkirk and Tenet. He makes history with Oppenheimer - which also features Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh and Robert Downey Jr - as the first film with sequences shot on black and white IMAX film.

The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney called the movie a "scorching depiction of America's ability to create and destroy its heroes."

While the four-act structure "asks a lot of the film's audience", he commented "our patience and concentration are amply rewarded".

Handing the film four stars, the Independent's Clarisse Loughrey called Oppenheimer "Nolan's best and most revealing work".

"It's a profoundly unnerving story told with a traditionalist's eye towards craftsmanship and muscular, cinematic imagination."

She praised its non-linear structure - a common feature of Nolan films - and its "beautifully lensed" cinematography, but added: "It's a little too conscious of itself, and the ways cinema crafts its own reality."

Rolling Stone reviewer David Fear said the movie is "big, loud, and a must-see", describing it as "thrilling and wonky, brilliant and overstuffed, too much and not enough".

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Speaking after this week's New York premiere, Paul Schrader, who wrote the Martin Scorsese-directed Taxi Driver, hailed Oppenheimer as "the best, most important film of this century".

"If you see one film in cinemas this year it should be Oppenheimer", Schrader wrote on Facebook, making his views on the Barbenheimer battle clear.

"I'm not a Nolan groupie but this one blows the door off the hinges."

Oppenheimer is in cinemas from Friday 21 July.

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Oppenheimer: Cillian Murphy makes powerful impact in atomic epic (2024)

FAQs

Oppenheimer: Cillian Murphy makes powerful impact in atomic epic? ›

The film features an all-star ensemble cast led by Cillian Murphy as the US physicist, J Robert Oppenheimer

J Robert Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer is a 2023 epic biographical thriller film written, directed, and produced by Christopher Nolan. It follows the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who helped develop the first nuclear weapons during World War II.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Oppenheimer_(film)
. The Independent called the "clever, imaginative" film Nolan "at his best", while the Telegraph said actor Murphy "dazzles as the destroyer of worlds".

How did Robert Oppenheimer contribute to the atomic theory? ›

J. Robert Oppenheimer was the director of the laboratory at Los Alamos, New Mexico, where the atomic bomb was designed. The theoretical work of how the atomic bomb would function had to be converted into a practical weapon that could be dropped from an airplane and explode above its target.

What impact did Oppenheimer have? ›

Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967) was an American theoretical physicist. During the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer was director of the Los Alamos Laboratory and responsible for the research and design of an atomic bomb. He is often known as the “father of the atomic bomb.”

What is so special about Oppenheimer? ›

A drama about genius, hubris and error, both individual and collective, it brilliantly charts the turbulent life of the American theoretical physicist who helped research and develop the two atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II — cataclysms that helped usher in our human- ...

What is the message behind Oppenheimer? ›

The Big Picture

Oppenheimer explores the devastating consequences of creating the atomic bomb and its lasting impact on the world. The film depicts Oppenheimer's realization that their creation could destroy everything they know, leading to a horrifying reckoning when the bomb is dropped.

Why did Oppenheimer oppose the atomic bomb? ›

Oppenheimer didn't oppose H-bomb research but “hoped that [it] would 'never be produced,'” according to the Oppenheimer biography American Prometheus. Oppenheimer's stance rankled President Harry S. Truman and Strauss. Both feared the Soviet Union would build the H-bomb before the U.S. and pushed for the program.

Did Oppenheimer discover black holes? ›

Sort of, But Not By Himself. Oppenheimer played a part in the discovery and understanding of black holes before the atomic bomb. The name Oppenheimer has become synonymous with the atomic bomb, but J. Robert Oppenheimer was a well-rounded physicist with his hands in all sorts of mathematical pies.

Why is Oppenheimer so successful? ›

Oppenheimer may be the first tentpole in history to profit from stiff competition, its informal packaging with Barbie leading not to a standoff but a mutually beneficial centering in the zeitgeist.

Why is Oppenheimer a hero? ›

appointed physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to work on the top-secret Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer and a team of scientists spent years developing and designing the atomic bomb. Their work came to fruition on July 16, 1945, as they witnessed the world's first nuclear explosion, forever changing the course of history.

What did Einstein say to Oppenheimer in real life? ›

wholly without pretense” was indeed right, and remembered what Einstein once said to him before his death, "You know, when it once has been given to a man to do something sensible, afterwards life is a little strange." Oppenheimer wrote that it was given to Einstein to do "something reasonable".

Why Oppenheimer's masterpiece? ›

At times circles race across empty darkness or wiry orange strands of light appear, depicting the fears and the science occupying Oppenheimer's mind. Those artful images are sporadic in a film that never loses its sense of story and drama, but they reveal how boldly imaginative and sure-footed the film is.

Why was Oppenheimer banned in Japan? ›

First Reason: It's possible that Toho-Towa decided not to release "Oppenheimer" in Japan due to various reasons, such as concerns about its portrayal of historical events or cultural sensitivities. Summarising the story: Japan has always been US allies since world war ll.

What did Oppenheimer do after the atomic bomb? ›

This effectively ended his access to the government's atomic secrets and his career as a nuclear physicist. Although stripped of his direct political influence, Oppenheimer nevertheless continued to lecture, write, and work in physics.

Why is Oppenheimer dark? ›

The Scenes Without Color In Oppenheimer Signify Moments Of Historical Accuracy. Unlike Nolan's Memento, which used black-and-white and color scenes to distinguish the movement of time, Oppenheimer's use of black-and-white and color scenes represents the shifting perspective.

What did Einstein say to Oppenheimer at the end? ›

"I remember it well," Einstein tells him. "What of it?" And in one of the most jarring, heart-stopping final lines of the last 20 years, Oppenheimer responds: "I believe we did."

Why did Einstein not like Oppenheimer? ›

In reality, Einstein did not like Oppenheimer's personality and was a committed pacifist who came to regret his role in the creation of the Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer and Einstein had differing scientific beliefs, and Oppenheimer would not have asked Einstein for a second opinion on nuclear fission.

Who contributed the most to the atomic bomb? ›

No one person can be credited with producing the world's first atomic bomb but two men had outsize achievements in that effort: physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and Army Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves.

What theory led to the atomic bomb? ›

Fission: the process by which an atom's nucleus is split into smaller particles; results in the release of neutrons and lots of energy. E=mc2: Equation made famous by Albert Einstein. Explains how a tiny amount of matter contains a tremendous amount of energy.

Who came up with the theories that helped scientists make the atomic bomb? ›

Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist that is widely renowned as the father of the atomic bomb.

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