Editor’s Note: The following contains Oppenheimer spoilers.
For many,Oppenheimeris the movie event of the year. The new film byChristopher Nolanis a continuation of the director’s admiration of IMAX cinematography. His commitment to shooting film on these heavy, expensive cameras has come to define his artistic style and as one of the true advocates of cinema. Nolan has practically made70mm IMAX screenings, his preferred format of experiencingOppenheimer,a household name. His pedantic approach to filmmaking at a populist level is why he is one-of-a-kind. When watching his new film on a glorious IMAX screen, 70mm or not, any observant viewer will take note of the constantly changing aspect ratios throughoutOppenheimer.
Why Does Christopher Nolan Love IMAX?
While the film wasshot entirely on IMAX cameras,Oppenheimershifts between two aspect ratios throughout the runtime, 2:20:1 and 1:43:1. The former is visualized as the wider, standard variation of screen formatting, with the top and bottom of the frame being cropped out, and the latter is the proportion that fills up a gigantic IMAX screen. The ratio frequently changes within respective scenes. No matter what aspect ratio the viewer is looking at,Oppenheimeris an exquisite picture, but there are few feelings more satisfying than when the larger-than-life IMAX screen that soars above you is filled from top to bottom with gorgeous film photography. Christopher Nolan’s advocacy for IMAX filmmaking is passionate enough to earn him the title of the unofficial spokesperson of the format.
Since hisno-budget debut,Following, and his ascent to blockbuster filmmaking withThe Dark Knighttrilogy andInception, Nolan has reveled in manipulating the medium of film and its conventional story structures. The director never saw a narrative that couldn’t be chopped up as a non-linear tale. His liberal use of coherent sound mixing, most infamously demonstrated inTenet, is frustrating on a basic level, but as an artistic flex, it is commendable. The back-and-forth routine of the aspect ratios in his most recent film is another example of Nolan’s unique sense of formalism. The shifting effect is ultimately unobtrusive in telling the gripping story ofJ. Robert Oppenheimer(Cillian Murphy) and his development of the atomic bomb, but it subconsciously adds avisceral element to an already exhilarating historical biopic.
‘Oppenheimer’ Shifts Between a Wide Screen & Full Screen in IMAX
The shifting aspect ratios are entangled with Nolan’s distinct, operatic depiction of a man blessed with a brilliant mind who reckons with utilizing it for immoral means. The wide frame, at 2:20:1, resembles objectivity. This style is familiar with the rudimentary beats of a typical Hollywood biography–satisfying the historical backdrop of the film. The wide frame is meant to capture the moment and basic layout of a scene, includingLewis Strauss' (Robert Downey Jr.) cabinet appointment hearing and Oppenheimer’s meetings involving government affairs such as meetings with Secretary of WarHenry Stimson(James Remar) and PresidentHarry S. Truman(Gary Oldman).
The tall, IMAX-friendly format, 1:43:1, is deployed to enforce the narrative device of following the Manhattan Project, the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, U.S. affairs with domestic communism, and the dawn of the Cold War through Oppenheimer’s perspective. The screen expands its parameters as if it’s mimicking the opening of the physicist’s mind. By nature, the full-screen format represents the subjective–often when the titular character is reckoning with his ego as a brilliant scientist and guilt for the human atrocity that he is responsible for. Nolan sets the tone with the dream-like, contemplative shot of water droplets splashing in a puddle cutting to Oppenheimer staring at the ground. Anytime his power escalates, such as when he walks along the Los Alamos neighborhood and testing sight, the screen expands to evoke his larger-than-life influence.
In the dawn of IMAX, the format was primarily utilized for educational short nature documentaries viewed inside a museum. Based on thehigh-resolution pristine image of IMAX photography, and the scope of its lens, capturing vistas and animals around the globe was well-suited for this format. As Hollywood adopted the camera and projection, IMAX became, and remains, synonymous withbig-budget action-adventure spectacle.
WhileOppenheimeris a grand, epic vision with a heavy budget, and Nolan has engaged in spectacle-driven entertainment, the film exploits the advantages of IMAX uniquely. Rather than solely capturing picturesque vistas, Nolan sought to illustrate the emotional complexity of the story through the faces of his actors. The screen often widens when Cillian Murphy’s face is needed to portray the pathos of the character and narrative. Utilizing the 1:43:1 aspect ratio to express the agony, remorse, and contemplation of the characters is in tune with the purposefully histrionic and weighty stakes of the film. Nolan, who expertly blends highbrow artistic craft with populous sentiments, finds the perfect collision of exceptional technical prowess with Shakespearean drama.
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What Do ‘Oppenheimer’s Shifting Aspect Ratios Mean?
Christopher Nolan’s manipulation of the aspect ratios in hisrecent smash hitsignifies that this historical biopic is not beholden to the history of World War II and the creation of the atomic bomb. As previously stated, the film is dominantly told through the eyes of Robert Oppenheimer. As a filmmaker heavily influenced byStanley Kubrick, Nolan’s films are active in their engineered precision, although, like his influence, it would be misleading to refer to him as purely a cold and calculated filmmaker.Oppenheimer, however, is a far cry from Nolan regarding its lack of rigidness in storytelling. The perspectives of Oppenheimer and Strauss are unreliable but deeply personal. Furthermore, legacy and grappling with infamy is a major subtext of Nolan’s film. The changing aspect ratios are emblematic of alooseness in the structure of the filmand its characters.
The shifting of aspect ratios inOppenheimeris an intuitive effect on an emotional and intellectual level. For one, it keeps the viewer focused, and the rush of being immersed in the full IMAX screen that towers over the theater floor is undeniable. From a cerebral perspective, since Nolan’s storytelling and characterization are so active and vulnerable, the true meaning behind the aspect ratios is ultimately ambiguous. It is the viewer’s prerogative to weave this effect into the greater fabric of the film. Compare this to Nolan’sexplicit reading of black-and-white photography versus colorin the film.
At a macro level, removed from debatable underlying thematic ideas of the effect, swapping back and forth between a 2:20:1 and 1:43:1 aspect ratio creates a visceral viewing experience–something that Christopher Nolan has thrived in across three decades. The director executed the daring tight-rope walk act of crafting a meditative and downbeat biopic entangled with American history that simultaneously satisfies the primal enjoyment of a great thriller.Oppenheimerkeeps viewers on the edge of their seats during the searing Trinity Test at Los Alamos and the title character’s security clearance hearing. By expanding and enclosing the frame of the theater screen in the course of these events, the intensity only compounds.
