Christopher Nolan’s recently released one of the biggest films of the century, Oppenheimer. The film is getting immense critical appreciation for its exceptional cinematography and jaw-dropping visuals. Lead actors Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., and Matt Damon are getting immensely appreciated for their remarkable performances. The film received a great opening for the first weekend, which was way higher than the expectations.
However, Nolan’s film is also attracting numerous controversies since its release. The film VFX team has recently raised its voice for not getting the due for the movie.
Controversies surrounding Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer
1. Oppenheimer Fails The Bechdel Test
As per the Bechdel Test, there should be two or more actresses in a film, who talk to each other about something other than a man. The film comprises two actresses, Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh, however, they are never seen talking to each other in the film. There is one dream sequence where Blunt sees Pugh with Oppenheimer when he was investigated for security clearance. The Test became a massive discussion as Nolan’s movies hardly passed the test.
2. Oppenheimer Recites The Bhagavad Gita During A S-x Scene
There is a scene where Cillian Murphy‘s J. Robert Oppenheimer and Florence Pugh’s Jean Atlock are engaged in s-x. Pugh takes out the Hindu Holy book Gita and asks him to read. They continue to have s-x as he reads the verses. The use of the religious book in the film has prompted a backlash from India. Prominent Indian figures raised their voice against the insensitive use of the Bhagavad Gita.
3. Florence Pugh’s censored Nude scene with Oppenheimer
In the regular cut of the film, Florence Pugh is shown naked during the scene with Oppenheimer in a hotel room. They are seen sitting across the room and talking to each other. In some countries like India and some Middle Eastern countries, an altered version is screened, where Pugh is wearing a black CGI dress. There were a lot of tweets about the use of CGI in the scene.
4. Florence Pugh and Cillian Murphy’s Age Gap For Oppenheimer
As per the story, Jean Tatlock met J. Robert Oppenheimer when she was 22 and he was 32 years old. There was a significant age gap between them. The actors Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh have a gap of 20 years in real life, which lead to Oppenheimer‘s age gap controversy. The fans expressed outrage for showing the age gap which was more the real people of the story.
5. Oppenheimer Didn’t Show Hiroshima Or Nagasaki Bombings
In Christopher Nolan‘s film, there were lots of talks about the bombing process, the execution, and the aftermath. There were talks about the bombing in Japan’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but no visuals were shown of the aftermath. People wanted to see the effect of the atomic bombing on those cities and felt cheated by the story. There were several arguments for and against showing the impact of bombs. But the movie was shown from the perspective of Oppenheimer hence it seemed feasible to neglect it.
Also read- Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer Owes $4,980,000 to Barbie
6. VFX team protest against the production of Oppenheimer
DNEG contacted Cartoon Brew to talk about the VFX work involved in creating Oppenheimer.
“The process involved shooting an extensive library of elements. They shot these explosions at high speed, slowed them down then brought layers of footage together in post-production. Almost all the VFX shots in the movie were recreated using only real elements combined together. Chris Nolan was determined to keep the VFX grounded in reality and maintain the raw feeling of the actual footage.”
Failing to credit the VFX artists has raised concern across the community. VFX artist David Rouxel, who earlier worked for Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy tweeted,
“Hundreds of people, mostly from India, whose efforts have not been recognized. Shame on the production team. I hope this will be fixed for the physical and online release.”
They also talked about unionization to avail workplace protection that would guarantee proper accreditation.
Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer is available in theatres worldwide.
Source- Screen Rant
