Oppenheimer

I’m in the minority with this opinion: Nolan has a tendency to tell, rather than show, even though he often shoots with large film formats like IMAX.

Take the strange lack of scale in Dunkirk, where Nolan managed to make thousands of British soldiers evacuating feel like a small-scale affair. Or in Interstellar, where teachers remind Matthew McConaughey’s character that billions of people died in worldwide famines. This expository scene takes place in a small room with white walls.

Nolan’s grown up with Oppenheimer: he balances the scale of the Manhattan Project with the nitty gritty of Oppenheimer’s personal life. No other film has better illustrated the conundrum that comes with large-scale projects: technical challenges can be overcome, but people are complicated and political as fuck.

Nolan has even grown up in the show, rather than tell, department. Several sequences here are more surreal and shocking than anything I’ve seen in a mainstream movie recently. And these moments are in service of illuminating Oppenheimer’s emotions.

There’s a lot to process here, from the movie’s structure and visuals, to the fantastic ensemble cast. I look forward to watching Oppenheimer again soon.