'They don’t make them like this anymore' is a cliche, but it’s an appropriate one when it comes to the films of Christopher Nolan. The writer-director has topped Total Film’s end of year poll on more than one previous occasion, but even by his own challenging standards – his films often break the mould narratively, and move at a pace that demands the audience cling on and keep up – Oppenheimer was looking like a harder sell. The hefty running time. The use of black-and-white. The focus on an extremely cerebral and conflicted historical figure, whose contribution to science and the world is one of the most unsettling creations ever unleashed, even to this day.
While films like this are often critically acclaimed, it’s been a long time since they’ve been box-office staples. This type of material tends to be the preserve of TV miniseries these days. But with this bold offering, Nolan not only made a superb film, he also proved that serious adult filmmaking (this was his first R/15 rated film since Insomnia) could draw in cinema crowds in huge numbers. Oppenheimer is a worthy film of the year on its own terms, but that fact it redefined what we can think of as blockbuster material makes its win all the sweeter. Heavyweight drama and auditorium-packing event cinema do not need to be mutually exclusive.
