Film Name: 奥本海默 / Oppenheimer
If nothing else, Oppenheimer is the strongest blockbuster of the year.
This is not only because the director is Nolan, 3 hours long, large-scale live action, huge amount of information, and once again show the deep heritage of Hollywood movies, but also because of the strong authorship of the movie on the basis of the big production, and the sound of that straight to the soul of the knocking questions.
Honestly speaking, the volume of Oppenheimer is really too big, and there are many aspects that can be expanded to speak about, such as character archetypes, historical background, shooting style, production features, story themes, actor performances, audio-visual experience, camera details, significance and so on and so forth, and it’s almost impossible to talk about everything …… Therefore, I can only pick a few points to briefly talk about the most profound feelings. I can only pick the most deeply touched a few points to briefly talk about it.
I like the first sentence I wrote after watching the movie yesterday, take it as the general outline of this article – Oppenheimer, they feared the chain reaction, did not happen in the nuclear explosion test, but in the two atomic bombs were carried away by the military vehicles, accompanied by a sound of chains shaking collision of vibration spread to the whole world.
(Friendly reminder: there will be spoilers below.)
It’s funny to say that my first and biggest impression of Oppenheimer is that it’s “traditional”.
This British-American co-production is a biopic, but it’s a blockbuster of the highest caliber in every way. There are no blacks, no gays, no current identity politics or fairy tale visions of a beautiful world in the main cast; instead, it’s religiously faithful to history, a male-driven man’s story with heroes, hymns, and philosophical reflections on serious politics based on reality. philosophical reflection.
This set of “traditional” values and creative concepts in today’s Hollywood has become more and more rare and old-fashioned – coincidentally, this year’s release of the same period of time, “Barbie”, is a typical representative of the new forces in Hollywood, and both of them mirror each other. The contrast between the two is a fascinating reflection of the reality of Oppenheimer’s popularity among many viewers and the criticism of Nolan’s “old white guy” mentality by some viewers.
What’s even funnier is that, in a way, Nolan is also able to adhere to his tradition of creativity so easily because of his own outstanding ability and status, which is very similar to Oppenheimer’s situation in the later part of the movie.
I can’t help but marvel at the fact that such a dignified, atmospheric, and serious work, which does not forget individual discernment in the midst of a grand narrative, is precisely one of the reasons why we love Hollywood movies, and that “tradition” is also a manifestation of “diversity”.
Watching Oppenheimer is a bit of a gateway, it requires you to be focused enough to take in the nearly 3 hours of character dialogues and constant transitions …… Other than that, there’s not much to it, and knowing the background of the characters/history/science is just an add-on that doesn’t detract from the excitement of the film.
And Oppenheimer isn’t exactly a “boring” movie, as long as you’re basically in the movie, you’ll be able to feel its staccato and tight pacing, as well as the vast array of characters and details.
Nolan this time played his trademark multi-line narrative, through the color Oppenheimer security hearings and black and white Strauss investigation hearings, relying on a large number of flashback memories, and slowly dug out all the truth behind the characters.
A “fission” and a “fusion” converge at the end of the film, together triggering the ultimate nuclear reaction: the self-questioning and self-reflection of a man who changed the course of human civilization forever when faced with the “consequences” of his actions. Self-questioning and self-reflection.
Personally, I feel that Nolan’s filming of Oppenheimer has taken a step backward in terms of high-concept creation, and a step forward in terms of audiovisual expression, while at the same time, the sound effects are more colorful and eye-catching than the visual effects.
Take the climax scene of the “Trinity” nuclear explosion experiment as an example, along with the atomic bomb explosion after the sky bright light spread over the space, the sound was completely withdrawn, time seems to stop here, all the participants in this experiment are immersed in the success of this moment and joy in the – -Until 20 seconds later, the roar of the explosion broke the silence for a moment.
Based on the natural law of “the speed of light is faster than the speed of sound”, the film also utilizes this time difference to realize the intertwining and sublimation of reality and drama.
The bright daytime light and great achievements are short-lived, while the deafening, sandy and smoky radiation that follows is long and prolonged.
What’s even better is the collective stomping sound that brushes up against the movie’s presence several times.
The official appearance of this soundscape is in the auditorium where the people greet the “heroes of the bomb” after the bomb has successfully struck the Japanese.
It is true that the more impressive part of this scene is the other non-realistic images and sounds, such as howling, screaming, charred corpses, vomiting, and so on, all of which are eerie audio-visual elements that symbolize the devastation and damage of the bomb, as well as the torment and suffering of the “originators”, but the stomping sound is undoubtedly more representative and penetrative, as it implies an irrepressible mass frenzy that will send anyone to any unimaginable place.
It appeared in Oppenheimer’s reality, and naturally in his memories, his anxieties, and his fears.
My favorite sound effect in Oppenheimer is the sound of the chains that begin to reverberate as the U.S. Army trucks pull away the Little Boy and the Fat Man.
This is because it is a highly relevant expression of the story’s theme. Chain Reaction (Chain Reaction) is a very important high-frequency vocabulary in the movie, at first the scientists were worried that the chain reaction of nuclear fission would not stop and thus lead to the destruction of the world, after many calculations to determine that almost never happen – but when the two atomic bombs were pulled away, the town of Los Alamos returned to silence, the world seemed to be left with the sound of chains shaking and crashing, until Oppenheimer went back to wait for the news did not dissipate. But when the two bombs were pulled away and the town of Los Alamos fell silent, it was as if the only sound left in the world was the sound of chains rattling and banging, which did not dissipate until Oppenheimer returned to wait for news.
Chain became the most accurate pun and polysemous word of all time, both as a noun for chains and a verb for imprisonment, but also as a symbol of the chain reaction that had taken place, passed on, and would continue forever for generations to come after the atomic bomb was introduced.
From now on, the karma of every person in the world will be related to it.
Strauss’s sinking is a prime example of this, and while his initial motivation for wanting to take down Oppenheimer may seem absurd (bruised ego), his reasons, means, and goals are understandable if you put yourself in his shoes:
The United States and the Soviet Union has opened the iron curtain of the Cold War for hegemony, the chain of suspicion and the zero-sum game dominated by the arms race, once formed, can not be stopped, and actively advocate the restriction of nuclear, nuclear control of the “father of the atomic bomb,” Oppenheimer is no longer a hero, but a troublesome to add obstacles to the United States and their own interests in line with finding ways to pull him down the altar.
This is also constantly tortured Oppenheimer’s soul questioning – their own leading the realization of technological breakthroughs, to bring peace or destruction?
In terms of objective results, the atomic bomb is of course peace: it let the clamor of “100 million jade” Japan quickly surrendered to avoid more casualties, the early end of World War II; it also allows mankind to live in unprecedented peace, and today we are still enjoying its blessings.
Yes, compared to the frequent and high-intensity wars in human history, the wars after 1945 have always remained on the scale of localized conventional wars, and there has never been a world war or a nuclear war.
But this abnormal “peace” was based on the great fear of destroying human civilization (in this respect, it was right to let the Soviet Union and the United States form a nuclear deterrent against each other).
The development of nuclear weapons brought about by the atomic bomb has completely changed the rules of the world’s operation, and after the opening of Pandora’s Box, a sword of Damocles will forever hang over the heads of mankind.
Therefore, Oppenheimer’s “confession” is indeed justified: now I have become the god of death, the destroyer of the world.
The destruction of the world has nothing to do with Oppenheimer, just like what Ye Wenjie said in Three-Body, “I lit the fire, but I can’t control it”, the key to the gears of human destiny exists in the past, the present and the future, and every generation will have a similar predicament as Oppenheimer.
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