With glamour and grace, the 96th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the American Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was held on the 10th of March at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood with dazzling and glittering stars making theatregoers spellbound with a magnificent flow of awards that led to the talk of the town.
Apart from being the illustrious recipient of several Oscars, Oppenheimer stunned the glossy audience by simultaneously bagging the Oscars for the Best Picture, Best Actor And Best Director. British and American filmmaker Christopher Edward Nolan was one of the most talked about men in Hollywood during this ceremony that brought the legendary icons in the film industry under one roof.
Predominantly surrounded by the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who is also known as the “Father of the Atomic Bomb”, Oppenheimer is exquisitely lavish and lush in its compelling and reverting narrative, as well as subtle and refined performance.
Right from the very first frame, the film effortlessly grabs the focus of the audience onto the captivating world of physicist Oppenheimer whose contributions during World-War II are said to have radically and excessively altered the tide of history.
Irish actor
Cillian Murphy, the first Irish actor to win a best actor Academy Award gave life to the character of Oppenheimer where his outstanding acting pinched and nailed the focal and intramural clashes, squabbles, conflicts, conundrum and quandary encountered by physicist Oppenheimer as he wrestled and scuffled with the innuendo and insinuation of his work.
The narrative of the film as well as that of its poignant and impassioned depth and abyss are augmented by the supporting cast along with an exceptional performance done by the entire ensemble. Critics remark that Oppenheimer is not merely a biopic but far and near a form of a meditation focused on the twist and turn of scientific progress and its inevitable impact on humankind.
Oppenheimer hunts through and scrabbles about the moral and principled impasse faced by scientists during wartime, scrutinising and traversing the teeth and muscle of the sacrifices made for the substantial benefit of the world at large.
No hyperbole remains in declaring that Irish born Cillian Murphy unquestionably deserves the celebrated Oscar for the best actor in his leading role as physicist Oppenheimer. A reviewer shared “I enjoyed the way the film kept me enraptured in Oppenheimer’s psyche”.
As further noted by the same reviewer, Murphy decorated each scene with such a mind-boggling sentimental potency and fury with the command of his facial bearing and guise, made edible by his unassuming body language. The audience candidly feels at one and be in tune with his flash of conflicts in which he is stranded in the thick of war and politics as well as, as to how he is compelled and contrived to tussle and brawl with the upshot of his actions.
Hollywood heavyweight
Making a significant mention at the Academy Award won by Cillian Murphy, BBC’s Steven Mcintosh and Ian Youngs declared “After making his name battling zombies in 28 days later and ruling a ruthless gang in ‘Peaky Blinders’, Cillian Murphy has now been recognised as a Hollywood heavyweight after winning his first Oscar for playing role of the father of the atomic bomb in Oppenheimer”.
From the very moment Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ begins its journey on the big screen, the inquisitive audience finds itself being transported back in time to the fierce and turbulent era of the 1940s during which seeds were sown for the World-War II, atomic bombs, the Holocaust and the Cold War; Nolan’s immaculate and unblemished attention and enthusiasm to the precise details painlessly douse and souse the audience right into an authentic historical setting.
Nolan’s outstanding direction is a sterling work of art. His exceptional forte of interlacing events of historical significance with human sensation and philosophical pondering and reactions is of admirable stage. Oppenheimer’s score that is composed by charismatic Hans Zimmer is undoubtedly a symphonic masterpiece.
It is magnificently armed with the ability of being well stocked with emotional impact of each and every scene of the film; it appeals directly to the audience’s heartstrings while inflating the viewer’s overall experience.
Oppenheimer is not solely a narrative that contains a historical prominence; it is an eloquent and impressive throwback on the frailty of humanity, chasing of knowledge as well as the repercussions of playing with the forces that are beyond human’s grasp and grip. It is certainly a must watch for anyone who is impressed with the knack of storytelling; it is an ideal testimony that deals with the impact of events of historical importance that have the potential of shaping the course of human history. On a personal note, the writer is of the view that the film will indisputably leave a lasting impact on anyone who could find time to watch Nolan’s masterpiece.
