Christopher Nolanis sharing how he blended movie genres inOppenheimer.
On Friday, Universal Studios shared a behind-the-scenes featurette included in the film’s upcoming Blu-ray and digital release on Nov. 21 in which Nolan, 53, and cast memberRobert Downey Jr.share how the movie glides between beloved film genres.
“At script stage withOppenheimer, I knew that what I wanted to do was start with this sort of hero’s journey’s beginning, discovering this extraordinary figure as a young man and his extraordinary potential,” Nolan shares in the clip, noting that tries to avoid “to be beholden to genre.”
“And then I knew I wanted the middle of the film to be sort of a heist movie in some ways; them putting together a team,” he adds. “How are they going to achieve this extraordinary thing in this horrible race against the Nazis?”
Robert Downey Jr. and Cillian Murphy in ‘Oppenheimer’.Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures
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Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures
AfterOppenheimerdepicts the Manhattan July 1945 Trinity test, in which J. Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Projectsuccessfully detonated the first atomic weapon, Nolan notes that the film’s final hour takes on “a powerful sense of the courtroom drama.”
“There is an element of horror to the film, there’s a nightmarish quality,” he adds. “There is an element of the Western to the film, the way [Oppenheimer] built this town up on top of a mesa in Los Alamos and was effectively the sheriff of it.”
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Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. in ‘Oppenheimer’.Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures
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Downey Jr., who plays chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Lewis Strauss in the film, speaks to the film’s use of horror in its depiction of the creation of nuclear warfare.
“It’s a horror movie in that it’s a meditation on where we likely go when left unchecked and how we are almost hard-wired to try to accumulate power and deadly force against each other,” he says.
Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy in ‘Oppenheimer’.Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures
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The moviereturned to IMAX theatersacross the globe in November; it iscurrently available for pre-order on Amazonand will soon be available to purchase on other major streaming platforms.
Oppenheimeris available on Blu-ray and digital Nov. 21.
source: people.com