Entry 12.0 - A Day at the Movies
A Day at the Movies
21st July, 2023
A day which moved Earth and heaven for the Cinema
Industry on this globe.
A day which divided audiences to follow the work of
two great visionaries.
The day of,
BARBENHEIMER.
It’s a day I longed for, for a long, long
time.
A day where I’ll finally get to watch Maestro’s
(Mr. Nolan’s) work on the first day of its release, even if not in his intended
way (No IMAX in Ahmedabad). Supported by a world-renowned cast of RDJ, Matt
Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh, Rami Malek (many others) and,
CILLIAN MURPHY. The man most of us know as “Tommy
Fookin’ Shelby”.
Other than peaky blinders, I have always known him
as an actor Nolan always turns to for playing the important side character
roles in his movies.
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In today’s world, an average movie goer carries a
lot of information about the movie before going into the theatre. There’s
trailers, film festival screening reviews, trailer analysis videos,
interviews…and with all this is such a hype built up by THE PR teams.
To be a film maker in this time is indeed a very
risky business because a lot of factors are dependent on things happening
outside the 70 mm screen.
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Coming to 21st July, 2023, what a
day, a day I longed for.
2 much awaited movies, BARBIE and Oppenheimer.
Excellent trailer reviews and PR (Barbie has the best PR I have ever seen for a
movie), the whole world waiting for the release, and the hype of the war -
BARBINHEIMER
(A snippet of Interviews before the release)
Cillian: It’s the MAGNUM OPUS Of Christopher
Nolan’s career.
Matt Damon: To be a part of this movie has been one
of the best experiences of my career.
RDJ: THIS IS THE BEST MOVIE I HAVE EVER BEEN PART
OF..
Greta and Margot posing with their Oppenheimer Movie tickets..
Christopher Nolan
A movie maker, whose each and every movie has
generated enormous critical and audience acclaim in the last 2 decades..
He, who is known to immortalize BATMAN, plant the
seed of INCEPTION and make us feel the bond of a father daughter relationship
through space travel in Interstellar.
He has had all the visible success while managing
to set a higher benchmark with his every film.
A man who finally left fiction a while ago and
turned to non-fiction, is going to make a BIOPIC. A man who is always known for
his creativity and fiction writing skills, will direct a BIOPIC about one of
the most controversial figures of all time…
ROBERT J OPPENHEIMER – The Father of the Atomic
Bomb
So touted was how would Nolan show the nuclear
explosion…
For a man who hates CGI, how will he show the
average movie goer an onscreen atomic explosion, without its use.
Today’s average cinema audience goes inside the
theatre with this kind of hype.
Me being a hardcore Nolan fan, had to make sure to
balance my expectations around all the hype.
We were a group of 5 who went to the theatre. 1st Day,
last show. We on our way were discussing people’s reservations around the movie
–
· It might be too scientific.
· It might be too historic.
· It might be overstretched and boring.
· Nolan’s non-fiction game is not that strong
like his fiction game.
(At the Cinema)
The scene there was incomprehensible. There were
only 2 kinds of people. One dressed in pink, and people not in pink.
A battle like none other, Warner Brothers vs Nolan
(Its alright if you didn’t get the reference)
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My 1-year wait was finally coming to an end, a wait
to see a 3 hour long biopic, shot in black and white as well as colour…I am
hyped up like anything…
(I walk into Screen 6 with all theseeeeeeeee
thoughtsssssss)
(A guy with a Nolan Universe T-shirt hoots from the
back as the movie starts)
I see a young Oppenheimer watching the tiny water
droplets falling on the ground with a grandeur of a background score.
An hour goes by,
I couldn’t think much or speak anything, as the
movie had such a good tempo for being a non-linear structure.
The movie ends with one of the most creative ends
ever written.
I come out of the theatre, say my goodbyes and go
into the car parking and sit in silence, thinking was it a good movie or a
great one..?
I doubted myself for a minute that my bias for
Nolan is affecting my thoughts or what,
(I start the soundtrack “Can you hear the music”,
Set tracks on shuffle and start driving)
Goodness, what an experience.
The script, the cast, the screenplay, the
director’s perspective, the music, the amazing cinematography..just
brilliant..
One of the most amazing ending’s to leave the
audience with. To make a 3 hour biopic and to carry it perfectly from start to
end and deliver such a cinematic experience (And I wasn’t even watching it in
IMAX).
A hundred good scenes and a hundred good dialogues
to appreciate out of a movie I feared might not be that great or
appealing.
(Some good scenes that have to be mentioned here)
· The scene where Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy:
Brilliant actor..just outdid every fuckin’ one) comes down to give his speech
post successful bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the crowd is completely
thrilled, happy and excited on America’s victory.
Frame by frame, we realize that this sweet success
which everyone is dire to celebrate, is turning slowly into a tale of terrible
horror for Oppie (as he realised the harm the bombings might have done), the
contrast and irony around it hits so hard (with the foot thumping and screen
blurring in the background)..it’s a pure horror experience from oppie’s
perspective..
· The trinity test. The 10-minute sequence which
keeps you up and alert in your seat. The anticipation of it, the brilliance of
background score by Ludwig Goransson which keeps on building your
adrenaline..and the last lines in the scene,
“These things are hard on your heart. Now I am
become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.”
There’s also a trick used in the movie while giving
out quotes. They tend to repeat same sentences so that the audience can grasp
the meaning and reality of the critical truths of the situation,
· “You can’t lift the stone without being ready
for the snake that’s about to be revealed”.
· “Theory will only take you so far”.
(Next track which plays on my stereo is “Kitty
comes to testify”)
How the hell does one deliver such a great movie
which is riddled with competition, hype and public eyes globally..
How do you nail showing the trinity test on screen
without using CGI and freaking keep silence of more than a minute on screen
after the test (I still think this was a gutsy and extremely well-paid
decision).
Above everything, to take such an ensemble and for
all to click together so so accurately is rare.
Robert Downey Junior – What a pure treasure of raw
talent. The way his potential and skills have delivered such a massive
performance. Thank god he has stopped doing super hero movies and is taking up
roles like these..
Cillian Murphy – You gem of an actor. This is
surely your MAGNUM OPUS. The way you have captivated the role and how you have
anchored this film is second to none. Thank god you were the first and only
choice for this.
To the man, the Maestro Himself,
How do you do it?
A director who has never even attended a film
school to create art (even if out of a book) of such level. The detailing and
care in each scene is so surreal. The use of first-person script is
such a unique experience but rightly used in this biopic.
Just how the hell do you do it?
Surely it just can’t be a genetic marker of
brilliance, I am sure this takes so much of sheer hard work and dedication. I
really doubt that this is your magnum opus. Because you somehow still have so
much to create and showcase to this world.
I can only thank you (and Greta too) for bringing
people back to cinema globally and doing combine collections of more than 2.5
Billion dollars and treating a cinephile like me.
What a day, a year to be a cinema lover…
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Link for “Can you hear the music” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JZ-o3iAJv4
Link for BTS on making of Oppenheimer – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmSP8Sgc088
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