WW2 biopic glorifies war

Directed by Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer” will be released on July 21st. The film follows the story of the American theoretical physicist often known for his work in the “Manhattan Project.”

The film looks to take a grandiose look at the tense time in World War 2 where the first atomic bomb was developed. It is claimed that Nolan has intentionally chosen to use practical effects at every point, apparently even for the bomb.

While this film will hopefully dig into the themes and show the horrors of war and the lengths we will go to hurt other people for our own gain, many people fear Christopher Nolan’s eye for spectacle and special effects will make a very human story seem alien.

The Manhattan Project and the creation of the atomic bomb shouldn’t be shown lightly it is an extremely intense topic, a movie that does this exceptionally well is “Grave of The Fireflies,” while it doesn’t necessarily need to be as heartbreaking, I feel like the impact of the situation shouldn’t be lost on any viewer, 

Many people’s lives were destroyed by the thing that was created here, the fallout of it and the events that transpired should be explored in the film. The story of all the things that J. Robert Oppenheimer went through is truly horrible, his speech he gave after seeing the first detonation shows this. “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”

His work on the Batman films, while great, always felt very held back or restrained, never character focused, only using these characters as different dissenting ideologies, which while yes, leads to some great filmmaking, always leaves you feeling like the characters are very flat.

The new trailer for the film isn’t very reassuring either, treating it as if it was cool, It even looks like they’re treating Albert Einstein as like a Marvel-esque cameo with how it’s shot, it looks a really poor depiction of the very real events that transpired.

Christopher Nolan has never been a “human” director, never really focused on his characters, only using them as pawns to get to the next set piece. His directing style is not conducive to the story being told, but his readiness to take on this project makes me curious about how he will do with such intense subject matter.