Director
Christopher Nolan
Leading Actors/Actresses
Cillian Murphy
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., and Florence Pugh
Genre
Drama
Language
English
Awards
The film was nominated for thirteen Academy Awards, later winning seven. Those awards include Best Picture (winner), Best Director for Nolan (winner), Best Makeup, Best Original Score (winner), Best Sound, Best Actor for Murphy (winner), Best Supporting Actress for Blunt, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography (winner), Best Supporting Actor for Downey Jr. (winner), Best Film Editing (winner), Best Production Design, and Best Costume Design.
Date of Release
July 21, 2023
Producer
Emma Thomas, Charles Roven, and Christopher Nolan
Setting and Context
The film is set over the course of more than 30 years, from 1926 to 1959. However, much of it is set during the Manhattan Project, in which Oppenheimer and his team raced against the clock to build an atomic bomb before the Nazis did.
Narrator and Point of View
The film is told from a third-person perspective.
Tone and Mood
The film is historic, revelatory, high-energy, and panicked.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Oppenheimer vs. the Nazi war machine (and to a lesser extent, the U.S. Government).
Major Conflict
Oppenheimer's attempts to untangle his complicated personal life while building an atomic bomb and dealing with the political ramifications of the time.
Climax
When Oppenheimer and his colleagues finally detonate their first atomic bomb during the Trinity test.
Foreshadowing
Oppenheimer being accused of being a Communist sympathizer is foreshadowed by his run-ins with Senator Strauss, as well as other government officials.
Understatement
Oppenheimer's individual intelligence is often understated in the film, which often emphasizes the intelligence of his group.
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
Not applicable.
Allusions
There are allusions to history, the popular culture of the time, and religious imagery (particularly related to Hinduism, as Oppenheimer frequently mentions The Bhagavad Gita).
Paradox
The U.S. has, according to Oppenheimer, more than a year's worth of time to catch up to the Nazis on their development of the atom bomb. Still, the U.S. deploys the bomb before anyone else despite their disadvantage.
Parallelism
N/A
