Dylan (The Popcorn Podcast)’s review published on Letterboxd:
And just like that, the ‘Barbenheimer’ double-bill day was complete.
One of the biggest reasons as to why I kinda loved Oppenheimer is because it has so many remnants of the ‘old Nolan’. Yes, the premise isn’t as flashy or action-heavy as many of his most popular works but I found it to be both nostalgic of Nolan’s roots in the industry, and a rather wonderful demonstration of his evolution as a filmmaker.
For me, Oppenheimer is a tragic character study that felt similar in tone to something like Memento. Besides the obvious black & white vs colour storytelling tool, this idea of one man wrestling with his purpose in the world and how that invokes a sense of both tragedy and loneliness. I also found the ‘Oppenheimer perspective’ clashing with the ‘objective/Strauss perspective’ to have a similar narrative feel to The Prestige, being incredibly reminiscent of Alfred Borden and Robert Angier’s differing POVs.
But of course this film’s DNA isn’t all just an amalgamation of the Nolan portfolio. The director has stated that he believes Oppenheimer’s story to be amongst the most important in human history and if there’s one thing that I have taken away from watching this film, it’s exactly that.
This is easily the most dense film Nolan has ever done but if I were to summarise my thoughts on a whole, it’s an experience that had me both fascinated and conflicted, but completely riveted throughout. By the time the credits hit, I was shell-shocked.
I cannot wait to sink my teeth into this one again.
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