Christopher Nolan’s three-hour biopic continues to smash all records. Latest, that of the most profitable film among those dealing with the Second World War, reports the British newspaper The Independent.
In theaters since July 19, the twelfth feature film by the British director has already earned more than 550 million dollars at the global box office. Commercial success is coupled with critical acclaim; Olivier Delcroix, from Le Figaro, gives Oppenheimer a score of three out of four, and speaks of a “punchy film from which one emerges as irradiated, a cinematic experience”.
The plot focuses on the character of physicist Robert Oppenheimer, “father of the atomic bomb”, played by Cilian Murphy.
The film delves into the intricacies of his work in the secret laboratory of Los Alamos, in the United States, and marries the tortured vision of the inventor faced with his destructive creation. Oppenheimer dresses his characters in nuances, navigating in turn between ethics and the pressure of war; in parallel with the action takes place the political trial of Oppenheimer, orchestrated with an iron fist by Lewis Strauss, played by Robert Downey Junior.
In an interview with the same daily, director Christopher Nolan himself considered that Oppenheimer, with a budget of 100 million dollars, was “his biggest film”. “The movie I wanted to make couldn’t have been done any other way,” he added.
“It is not a question of money, or budget but rather the magnitude of this story. That’s what attracted me. For example, there’s the fact that Oppenheimer and the other scientists could never rule out this possibility that maybe they were going to set the atmosphere on fire and destroy the whole world, but they still triggered the test ! This idea of someone who takes a risk for all the others, and all their descendants – there is nothing greater than that, “said Christopher Nolan.
Forget The Pianist, Schindler’s List, or Saving Private Ryan. And even Dunkirk, the war film on Operation Dynamo, made in 2017 by a certain… Christopher Nolan. The film, lasting “only” 1h46, had set the previous record, crossing the bar of 527 million dollars in revenue.
Despite Oppenheimer’s impressive numbers, the controversial physicist’s life can’t compete with Barbie’s rose-drenched life. Greta Gerwig’s film has indeed reached the billion dollars, in the space of three weeks – the two films were released on the same day.
