Telling the story of "Oppenheimer" on stage and behind the scenes, director Nolan returns to Shanghai after 9 years | Audience | Director
On the afternoon of August 24th, many young audiences gathered at the entrance of Shanghai Qiantan Taikoo Li MOViE Cinema, hoping to catch a glimpse of the renowned director Christopher Nolan's style. The movie "Oppenheimer", written and directed by him, will be released on August 30th. The news that Nolan himself came to China to promote the film has long been circulating among movie fans. This is also the second foreign director to cause a sensation in the fan circle after Japanese director Shin Haicheng.
To ensure the smooth premiere event in Shanghai, Universal Pictures has taken over the entire cinema and will not open to the public all day. The whole roadshow is compact and orderly. simultaneous interpreting equipment is distributed on site to ensure efficient output of effective information, just like the narrative mode of the film Oppenheimer. "I arrived in Shanghai yesterday and took a simple walk to see the night scenery. The buildings here are impressive, and I was here 9 years ago last time. It's nice to come back to Shanghai," Nolan said.
Writing a script from a first person perspective
Oppenheimer tells the story of the father of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and his profound influence. The film is 180 minutes long, almost all of which are cultural dramas, but with a tight rhythm and strong immersion, it is a movie designed for the big screen.
"If given the opportunity, be sure to watch IMAX format. We also used IMAX technology for filming," Nolan said. In order to bring an immersive experience, the film is told from Oppenheimer's first person perspective, making the audience feel like they are in the same world as the actors. As a director and screenwriter, he also wrote scripts from a first person perspective.
The movie is adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning book "The Biography of Oppenheimer: The American Tragedy of the" Father of the Atomic Bomb "by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin, which took 25 years of research to write. Reading biographies is Nolan's first step in his homework. "I imagine Oppenheimer sitting at his desk, saying something, trying to live in his world. Writing a script like this is beneficial, and when I present the completed script to other creative partners, they all recognize it."
Oppenheimer has a distinct Nolan style - brain burning, just like his previous film Creed, where the information is so dense that it feels a bit brain overload, and many details may require a second brush to understand. The movie adopts a visual style of alternating black and white and color, with scenes presented from Oppenheimer's perspective presented in color, and scenes centered around Strauss presented in black and white. Nolan introduced that this is a technique he used in the movie "Fragments of Memory". "The presentation of different color tones can help the audience understand the timeline of different segments. The presentation of color images is the same as what is visible to the naked eye, and black and white images are taken for the first time using a black and white IMAX camera. The clarity is IMAX, but the image is black and white." He also admitted that this technique cannot be overused in the movie, otherwise it will not be natural enough.
The soundtrack is also a major feature of Oppenheimer, as it not only plays an important narrative role in the film, conveying the character's mental state, but also arouses the audience's emotions. In order to score for the movie, Nolan once again approached Oscar winner and composer Ludwig Grayson, who also wrote music for the movie Creed. Nolan said that music is one of the important resources in this movie, and from the early stages of creation, he began discussing with Ludwig the meaning of the music in the movie and how to do it. "I discussed with him that violin solo can showcase Oppenheimer's neurotic traits. The violin's voice is romantic and elegant, but sometimes it can become sharp and give people a sense of fear. When we edit it, we add a sample of his recorded music. After watching our rough cut, he will further improve and create new scores, and work with the editing team to complete the work."
The cast of Oppenheimer is strong, with many having multiple collaborations with Nolan. For example, Kirian Murphy, who plays Oppenheimer, has appeared in Nolan's five films: Batman: The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, and Dunkirk. Another important character, Strauss, one of the founding members of the US Atomic Energy Commission, was played by Robert Downey Jr., who is known for his role as Iron Man. In the movie, Robert Downey Jr.'s image contrasts greatly with Iron Man, and the audience may not even recognize him. In order to persuade him to take on the role, Nolan also put in a lot of effort. "Strauss is one of the most complex characters in the film, and I need an actor with great strength and inner strength to convey the character's energy. Robert Downey Jr. is famous and charming, and I told him that I hope you can immerse yourself in the character and use your acting skills to convey to the world that you are an excellent actor. He thinks this is an opportunity to try different things and gladly accepts the challenge."
Using movies to keep young people alert
The manufacture of atomic bombs was a triumph of human wisdom, but it also sparked an arms race, a fear that has yet to dissipate. This is the real-life reflection of the creator's filming of Oppenheimer. When answering a question from an audience about whether movies should compete for awards, Nolan said, "I shoot movies for the audience, and my movies are all audience centered."
"What I pursue is not limited by time, and there can be some common creative themes in any era. I will be interested in the elements of the story myself, and I will also be moved and gained." Nolan said that Oppenheimer's decision at that time prevented the world from heading towards the end of nuclear war, which has reference for any era. "When I started writing the script, I discussed this topic with my son. He said, 'This is not something that young people are worried about nowadays. They no longer discuss the threat of nuclear weapons.' I made this movie hoping to remind young people to always be vigilant and alert to the possibility of nuclear war."
In order to recreate the town of Los Alamos, the base of the Manhattan Project, the movie needs to reconstruct the scene from that time. "This posed a great challenge to the set crew. The climate in New Mexico is harsh, and the local scenery is no longer the same as before. There is also a Starbucks, and these modern facilities cannot be included in the camera. We can only go to uninhabited places to rebuild, just like the Manhattan Project." Nolan introduced that later the crew also went to Los Alamos town to shoot some scenes, including the house where Oppenheimer used to live and the place where we met during the nuclear test. "We try our best to shoot real-life scenes, hoping that all the scenes will help us and also help the actors find a sense of immersion."
On the big screen, the "Trinity" nuclear test presents a realistic visual spectacle. Nolan explained, "Nuclear explosions are extremely frightening, and I hope to restore the realism as much as possible to create an immersive sense of fear for the audience. When we shoot in the desert and conduct large-scale explosions on set, we need to ensure safety. To avoid accidents, there is a lot of communication to do, and this tension allows us to feel to some extent the tense atmosphere of the entire scientific team during real nuclear tests."
When portraying Oppenheimer's inner world, many special effects scenes are also used in the movie, making the audience feel like they have glimpsed the wonderful scenes in the minds of physicists. Nolan said, "I told the special effects director that what I need is to make people feel scary and threatening on one hand, and to showcase beautiful and powerful power on the other." However, he admitted that movies are still mainly about stories, and the film industry pays too much attention to technological progress, just like frequent screen format changes, which can easily make people overlook the story itself. "Movies should focus on the story itself, and the creators' responsibility is to bring novel stories to the audience. We can tell them in novel ways, but the story itself is the technology of the movie. I hope to use the most appropriate technical techniques and filming methods to tell the story I want in every movie."
It is worth mentioning that Nolan's daughter also made a cameo appearance in "Oppenheimer". At the Shanghai premiere event, one of his sons also sat in the audience. Some viewers are curious about whether Nolan will let his children work in the film industry. He said, "My father took me to watch some great movies, which had a huge impact on me. I also let my children watch many movies. But whether they want to become directors or enter the film industry is not certain. I personally love the film industry and enjoy it greatly. I will continue to shoot, not only for my children, but also encourage any young people with ideas to make movies and screen them on the big screen."
