News culture Christopher Nolan’s next film has an eye on horror, plus contains a ‘nuclear’ explosion with no special effects
Published on 06/21/2023 at 15:30
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Three years after Tenet, Christopher Nolan is about to return to the obscurity of cinemas as a director with Oppenheimer. A portrait of the eponymous physicist who should not leave spectators unmoved.
“An intense experience”
With the approach of the release of his next film in the cinema, Christopher Nolan indulges in the game of interviews. For Oppenheimer, the director of Interstellar and Inception spoke at length to the media Wired. He talks about the emergence of artificial intelligence and its regulation. Then, he talks at length about his feature film considered by another filmmaker to be a horror film:
It’s an intense experience, because it’s an intense story. I showed it recently to a filmmaker who told me it was kind of a horror movie. I don’t disagree (…) But when I started to finish the film, I started to feel this color that you don’t find in my other films, just the darkness. She’s there. The film fights against that.
A statement that sets the tone. Oppenheimer portrays theoretical physicist Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967). The latter is best known for his involvement as scientific director behind the Manhattan Project: the code name of the research project that led to the production of the first atomic bomb during World War II. A documentary (including a “nuclear” explosions are made without special effects) looking like a horror movie taking place during one of the most important conflicts of the 20th century. You have been warned.
“Some people leave the film completely devastated”
To add to the bill, it should be remembered that Oppenheimer is the director’s longest film. He himself admitted that it would be longer than Interstellar (02:49). A sacred piece which should not leave the spectators indifferent. Still in the columns of Wired, Nolan even dropped this concerning the first viewings made by the public:
Some people leave the film completely devastated. They can no longer speak. I mean there is an element of fear that is present in the story and in its foundations. But the love of the characters, the love of the relationships, is as strong as I’ve ever been.
Those waiting for Oppenheimer, whose theatrical release is scheduled for July 19, are therefore warned. And if ever some are also traumatized, the Barbie movie with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling should display a very different atmosphere. That’s good, it will also be released on July 19 in cinemas and with 01h54 in duration, it is much more digestible.
