#EDIT: wait i just realized i forgot to mention cillian murphy; well of course he was great

[miladythewinter]

so i saw oppenheimer. i feel like i just binge watched a 4-part miniseries cause it's so long and ambitious in its span that that's what it felt like. very documentary-like in its scope. at first it was exactly what i expected but then it turned into an unexpected legal drama which, while essential to his life, felt weirdly executed. i think the two parts could have been better balanced. or it should have been just about the second one. not a fan of the rapid-fire editing at some points.

that said, it's much more understated than i thought it would be. i think the focus on oppenheimer himself and on the backlash against him from the part of the US government for his "opposition" to the h-bomb was the right choice. they also presented oppenheimer in a very matter-of-fact way, it felt to me, showing his contradictions and not really excusing any of it. i think a key line is kitty's line about [spoilery plot point] that can also sum up his work. it goes something like: "you can't commit a sin and then expect people to feel sorry for you when you suffer the consequences". i think that's exactly how we're meant to feel about him and how he's thought of today. of course there are other issues at hand that are addressed and that explain from his point of view (plus the atmosphere of the time) what he did. and that was also a part of him but it really becomes irrelevant when his actions led to what it led.

the score is pretty good and, while they may seem corny, i liked einstein's scenes. there are so many famous actors in this movie - including oscar winners - that it honestly became a bit distracting, just like on the bear. i think casey affleck and rami malek only have around 8 minutes of screentime each; ken branagh (yes he's in this) much less. emily blunt was good but super underused. the infamous "sex as only nolan can stage it" is not actually a sex scene per se, nor is it anything revolutionary though it is unexpected, and i had forgotten that robert downey jr is actually a good actor. matt damon was miscast though.

on another note, the portuguese subtitles were absolutely atrocious. idk who did them but they fucked up so many lines including a seminal one at the end in a way that's truly mind-boggling. did they use an ai or something? i feel like filing a complaint