Throughout his distinguished filmmaking career, Christopher Nolan has consistently faced one recurring criticism: the occasional difficulty hearing his characters' dialogue. This issue becomes particularly apparent when lead actors don masks, as seen when returning Nolan collaborator Tom Hardy portrayed the face-obscured yet menacing Bane in The Dark Knight Rises or when John David Washington donned an oxygen mask in the mind-bending spy thriller Tenet. The Memento director’s latest cinematic masterpiece, Oppenheimer, has also experienced complaints about a few moments of indiscernible dialogue, and Nolan has finally responded.
Even when characters don't have unobscured faces, some words still end up muffled in the director's work, albeit to a lesser extent than in some of his earlier outings. As it turns out, there is a deliberate reason behind this audio challenge. The Inception filmmaker told Insider that his approach to filmmaking revolves around preserving the authenticity and spontaneity of the performances captured at the moment. He opts not to resort to post-production re-voicing, a common practice in the industry to enhance dialogue clarity. In a recent interview, Nolan explained that he prefers using the original on-set performances, even if some lines might not be as crystal clear as audiences would desire. He told the outlet:
I like to use the performance that was given in the moment rather than the actor re-voice it later. Which is an artistic choice that some people disagree with, and that’s their right.
This artistic choice has elicited both admiration and frustration from fans and critics alike, sparking ongoing discussions about the balance between creative vision and audience comprehension in his films. This long-standing complaint resurfaced recently with the release of the highly anticipated film Oppenheimer. One frustrated fan by the username @shoe0nhead took to Twitter, posting a confused Don Draper meme to embody their frustration, which you can see below.
me watching Oppenheimer pretending i know what the fuck they are saying for 3 hours pic.twitter.com/NQIjVWBFqrJuly 30, 2023
The Mad Men meme encapsulates the frustration of many viewers who have struggled to catch every word on-screen. Another user named @NeonNoodle22 strongly agreed, sharing a post that singles out the film's music as the reason behind the hard-to-catch dialogue. You can see the Tweet embedded below:
Me trying to tune out the overwhelming music in Oppenheimer so I can hear the dialogue pic.twitter.com/49XT1aYyubJuly 30, 2023
While Nolan's dedication to preserving his actors' raw and authentic performances is commendable, it has undeniably caused frustration for some audience members who struggle to grasp critical plot points and character interactions amidst the often intense and immersive soundscapes of his films. This complaint has surfaced for almost every Nolan movie released since 2012. Interstellar was plagued with sound problems, and even his 2017 historical war film Dunkirk faced sound mixing criticisms, with many viewers saying the music was too loud. However, every step of the way, the director has maintained the claim that the sound in his films is intentional and exactly how he wants it.
The film auteur’s latest movie explores the life and work of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist behind the creation of the atomic bomb. Despite the sound complaints, audiences remain undeterred. They are going out of their way to experience the flick, even in immersive IMAX, while not every fan has access to a theater showing the 70mm format. The film continues to hold its ground at the weekend box office, competing with Barbie for a phenomenal second weekend and delivering impressive numbers compared to Nolan's previous works. With such a strong start, it's expected to maintain momentum in the coming weeks.
Oppenheimer is now playing in theaters; check your local listings for showtimes. Alternatively, explore our 2023 movie release schedule for other exciting theater options.
