WHAT IS A FILM? A question I finally answered once I watched Oppenheimer

NO SPOILERS, JUST A THOUGHT

It seems like we forget that the beauty of cinema is how still images changing so fast can bring us the illusion of movement. Directors like Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson and Christopher Nolan are film lovers. These directors are certainly among the best. Therefore we can say, they might know something we don’t. At least they are quite sure of what a movie is. But, are we? I never thought of this question until a couple years ago, when I decided to start writing both a tv series and a feature film. What’s the difference, really? It seems like I needed to watch Oppenheimer to understand.

Before we get into Oppenheimer, give me a chance to keep unfolding this question. What is a movie?

Let’s go back in time

Back in 1895, when the Lumière brothers invented the camera and the projector, cinema was purely scientific. You could notice how those first short films were nothing more than short takes of events and actions playing in front of a camera: a train passing by, people walking in the streets, passengers disembarking a boat,… all of this with no sound. That possibly uncomfortable silence was an invitation to live music. Musicians started to fill the theater ambience, and so it became an important element. Suddenly, music brought an emotional factor and showed to the audience that those moving images had specific rhythms. It worked. Cinema was an exciting technological improvement and music was part of it. Immediately, storytelling came in and took it in as a shelter.

I grew up watching television, renting movies and, every once in a while, going to the theaters. However, for a kid, all of those things were nothing but video: moving images with sound. Therefore, I must have had to discover that difference between tv content and a movie at some point. That happened, I believe, when I first watched Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. It was impressive to me, as I was on the edge of my seat for the whole movie. It could have been a better movie, for sure, but this is not to praise that specific film. I was not just watching Jurassic Park, but I was also experiencing the power of cinema. I’ve never seen dinosaurs as real as those were back in that time. I’ve never felt that much suspense and excitement. It was something new, something different. I didn’t watch it in theaters. I watched it at home and I still felt it was something different. However, that didn’t necessarily gave me a proper answer. I have never thought of such a question before.

So what is it, then? What did I discover with Oppenheimer?

Oppenheimer is written and directed by Christopher Nolan. It is an absolutely mind blowing film. It is a three-hour movie, but once you get hooked, time flies.

One of the important elements in cinema, is also the acting. It’s an element borrowed from theater. That’s the reason the cast of this movie is absolutely incredible. You’ll get to be next to Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Benny Safdie, Kenneth Branagh, Rami Malek, and of course, now an Oscar contender, Cillian Murphy. It’s amazing how they all fit their role in such a way. Now, we will all remember that we’ve once seen these rockstar physicists: Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg and Robert Oppenheimer.

However, if you only have a great casting, then I’d say you are just recording a theatrical play. Therefore, the crew that works behind the camera is quite important. Christopher Nolan and his special and visual effects supervisors, Scott Fisher and Andrew Jackson, delivered us an atomic bomb explosion. How? As a spectator, I really don’t care, but isn’t it amazing we now know it wasn’t CGI? Whatever it was, it was captured by Hoyte Van Hoytema, who just gave us another breathtaking cinematographic piece of art. All the Trinity test sequences are really unexpected, specially for those who are thinking, “isn’t Hollywood nothing but about explosions?”. Well, after Oppenheimer, those of you who think that way, will think Oppenheimer’s bomb is the first cinematic explosion you’ve ever seen.

Cinematic, another complex word.

Making something cinematic is not just about the images, the lenses, the camera and colors. It’s also about rhythm, music and sounds. What would that explosion be without Ludwig Göransson’s music but also without Richard King’s, Randy Torres’ and Alessio Miraglia’s sound design? All these elements combined can deliver a powerful film. It doesn’t matter if we’ve watched too many explosions in movies. You can make it feel like it’s the very first time.

There are other more silent roles, like costume, make up design and sometimes editing. I say this because the less you think about them, the better they are doing their job. I think the editing in this movie, and the sound post production is a big part of this experience.

So, once again? What is a movie? When I left the theater, my heart was in my throat. I tried to articulate some words afterwards, but I was still shivering. I think I never felt what I felt during those three hours. Some talked about Oppenheimer being a horror movie. I wouldn’t say it’s a horror movie because horror is now such a specific genre, that I’d say it isn’t horrifying. Fantasy is a big part of it that sometimes ruins the possibly horrifying experience. Some other, like serial killer horror movies, don’t need fantasy, but need a lot of ghoulish fascination. This movie needs none of them to be truly horrifying.

To answer what a film is, we need to understand what a film maker is. It’s clear that Nolan is a film explorer. He grabbed storytelling and bended it to create Memento. He read about black holes and quantum physics, and delivered Interstellar, a film that made us rethink the whole science fiction genre. For Dunkirk, he took innocent youngsters and made us realize that war is more about survival than just about patriotism and war strategy. Every time Christopher Nolan puts a finger on film, he probably asks himself, “What else can be done that hasn’t been done yet?” Somehow, movies are still scientific, in that way.

You’re probably thinking that tv shows are impressive these days. If you watch war scenes done by Game of Thrones, you can really see how much they changed medieval battles for tv shows. Although, it’s quite obvious they borrowed a little bit from the Peter Jackson’s trilogy The Lord of the Rings. If you watch Breaking Bad, probably the best tv show ever, then you’ll get to see how high they set the bar for the other shows, in storytelling but also in film language. The way that story is being told through the camera is an amazing achievement. Still, you can find things Vince Gilligan borrowed from Brian De Palma’s Scarface and Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. Television has a duty, and it is to put in practice what film has already done.

Why? Because it seems like there is more creative freedom in film. Not so much in Hollywood anymore, but on independent films. Christopher Nolan is an exception we need to be grateful for.

Christopher Nolan, just as Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson and some other film makers, is not only a storyteller. Storytelling is central, but as a screenwriter, I sometimes tend to forget that you can also tell a story in a better way: Literature. As a film maker, you need to think and appreciate all what film can bring to the table for a story to be told. Doing a short film is about discovering how to do new things, unbelievable things: how to make someone disappear, how to cut someone’s throat or even how to show sadness without telling it. It’s not easy and that’s why it is a beautiful sort of art. I am glad I experienced Oppenheimer, because it reminded me what a movie really is. I appreciate all of what Christopher Nolan reinvents and explores, I appreciate all his innovation. Also, I feel inspired by all the work his crew and cast have done for this piece of art.

Please go watch Oppenheimer if you haven’t already, because you are missing something very special. And watch it in the best possible way: IMAX or 70 mm or both. It is, without a doubt, one of the greatest films of this decade.