Christopher Nolan has released a first-look image of Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer, which hints the director will be returning to one of his best cinematography tricks. Universal Pictures shared the first official image from Oppenheimer, a simple black-and-white shot depicting Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer. With Murphy donning a 1950s-style hat, suit, and a cigarette on his lips, Oppenheimer’s first look image accurately recreates a picture of the real-life theoretical scientist.
Following Tenet, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer depicts the life of the title character J. Robert Oppenheimer, who is particularly notable for his involvement in WWII’s Manhattan Project, which earned him, among others, the moniker of the "father of the atomic bomb.” Nolan’s Oppenheimer already has a significant advantage for the director’s skills, with the subject matter being posed to combine his typical themes and genres of action, time, existential conflicts, metaphysical elements, and high-concept scientific plot devices. Oppenheimer’s star-studded cast also hints at the upcoming biopic possibly becoming Nolan’s best film, with the first image of Murphy’s character suggesting the director is utilizing all of his greatest calling cards.
While Oppenheimer’s first image proved how incredible the casting of Cillian Murphy was, the black-and-white picture also shows that Nolan is returning to a film medium he excels in. According to IndieWire, Oppenheimer is the first film to shoot in IMAX black-and-white analog photography. Nolan’s first two films, Following and Memento, were both creatively shot in black-and-white to different effects, with Oppenheimer seemingly following suit. Following, Nolan’s first neo-noir crime film, aptly used black-and-white to place viewers in the melancholy themes of the story while eliciting the style of similar 1940s noirs. Memento, however, used black-and-white in a clever thematic manner, with the medium being utilized to demonstrate scenes taking place in chronological order (though time is very relative in this film). Nolan hasn’t used black-and-white since 2000's non-linear film Memento, and Oppenheimer proves Nolan is reviving the powerful time-related cinematic format.
Oppenheimer’s bleak themes in terms of destruction and power brilliantly lend themselves to black-and-white cinematography, especially if the film uses color sparingly. Black-and-white visuals for modern movies work particularly well with WWII stories, as exemplified by Steven Spielberg’s Best Picture-winning 1993 movie Schindler’s List. Spielberg’s film has one of the greatest modern usages of black-and-white film, with the calculated and sparse uses of color enhancing its themes. Since Oppenheimer - as a non-battlefront biopic - is apt to feature less action than typical Christopher Nolan movies, shifting between black-and-white and color would work well for the plot, especially since Nolan has proven talent with interchanging these mediums.
Considering the tests and actual explosion of the WWII atom bomb may be better suited for color, Oppenheimer will benefit by only having part of the film in black-and-white. Nolan creates movies with striking visuals that are best-suited for theatrical experiences, so there’s little doubt that his J. Robert Oppenheimer biopic will feature colorful explosions. Nolan explored a colorful WWII picture with 2017's Dunkirk, but Oppenheimer's story lends itself to more traditional film mediums. With the confirmation that at least a few sections of 2023’s Oppenheimer are being shot in black-and-white film, Christopher Nolan is reviving one of his best cinematography tricks for his time-focused themes.
