London, 15 July. The UK premiere of Christopher Nolan’s long-awaited Oppenheimer in London was partially overshadowed by a strike by Hollywood actors and writers and their ongoing protests since May against pay cuts in the streaming era. Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and Matt Damon are among the stars who appeared on the red carpet, who, after the official announcement of the strike, skipped negotiations with the actors’ union and left the event. In Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy plays what is considered the “father of the atomic bomb.” International critics were enthusiastic, calling it an “incredible”, “tense and emotional” drama. Christopher Nolan, speaking about the alternation of color and black and white in the film, explained:
“I love that it’s a way of helping the audience perceive a certain aspect of the timeline. And in the case of this film, in color, that’s all Oppenheimer sees, you kind of get stuck in his point of view. With black and white, however, we want to have a more distant view of him. We’re looking at him from a distance and it gives us a different sense of who he is and what’s going on behind the scenes. And there’s a lot of dark black and white scenes in those dark shades.”
The cast includes Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, among others, happy to have worked with Nolan:
“He keeps people glued to their seats, but I think he’s also interested in the dynamics of a scene full of talking people.”
“And he’s one of the few directors who can do this, do both, equally. It’s very rare to find someone who can work on such a scale and be so emotional, ask important questions, but also have such intimate moments and be completely immersed in the characters that the film is about.”
And Cillian Murphy said:
“Until recently, I had never seen a single frame from the film other than what was in the trailer. It was a whole new experience, a little overwhelming… You captured the history and the greatness of what He did.”