Christopher Nolan, the director most known forThe Dark Knighttrilogy,Inception,Interstellar, andTenet, discussed his upcoming film,Oppenheimer. This film, not unlike his other historical filmDunkirk, is a piece that details the life of real-life figures, in this case, American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the scientist’s role in developing the atomic bomb as part of what’s known as the trinity test in New Mexico in 1945.The firstOppenheimerteaser features Cillian Murphyin black and white film, as the trailer counts down to what audiences know as the creation of the world’s first atomic bomb. That countdown draws closer, all while Nolan has been hard at work creating the highly anticipated film. In the midst of where the director is hard at work, which fans may imagine as an underground bunker, Nolan had the time to come up and speak briefly aboutUniversal’sOppenheimer.RELATED:‘The World Forever Changes’ On The First Oppenheimer PosterNolan spoke toTotal Filmabout the harsh conditions of filming in New Mexico and the practical challenges of simulating the world’s first atomic bomb without CGI. The director is known for cinematic set pieces that do not rely on such effects. Nolan describes that despite the challenges unlike any he had experienced before, his extraordinary crew was with him every step of the way to meet these challenges head-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,” Nolan said, “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.”
Nolan went on to express the immense scope of the film, recounting it as the story of Oppenheimer’s life and his journey throughout history on an individual and collective level. So, although the film will detail the historical aspects ofOppenheimer, it will most importantly offer a lens through which audiences can relate to him. However, as is the case with most Nolan films, the narrative ofOppenheimerwill progress in experimental waysthat are sure to catch audiences by surprise. “And so the subjectivity of the story is everything to me. We want to view these events through Oppenheimer’s eyes,” Nolan said. “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.”
Oppenheimeris Nolan’s first film under Universal Picturessince he left Warner Bros, reportedly due to a disagreement surrounding business choices made by WB amid the pandemic. However, this has not slowed the director down, as he bounced back with an impressive cast that includes the likes of Josh Peck, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Matthias Schweighöfer, Robert Downey Jr., and Alex Wolff, among many more.
Further information regardingOppenheimerwill be in the new issue of Total Film, which includes a special 52-page countdown of the best films of 2022, releasing December 15.HowOppenheimer utilizes timeas a narrative technique in ways that expand upon past Nolan films remains to be seen, although audiences will not have long to wait.
