Why did ‘Oppenheimer’ win? Five keys to Nolan’s Oscar victory

ideal gender

Members of the Hollywood Academy have an extraordinary weakness: Fictions about historical figures. Over the history of the awards, 125 have been nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture – 34 in the last decade alone – with ‘Oppenheimer’ leading the way. There are now 22 winners of the statuette based on real events and people. How is this trend explained? The reasons are unknown – yes, it is tempting to suspect that they are not very plausible – but in any case ‘Oppenheimer’ gave voters the opportunity to indulge this tendency without guilt. Yes, it is a biographical film, but it is a particularly risky one and one that is free of the narrative and formal clichés commonly associated with the genre.

A debt to be paid

Nolan has been known for decades one of the most innovative filmmakersand as an auteur unique in using his films to satisfy both those who go to the movies in search of intellectual stimulation and those who prefer the kind of spectacular entertainment that demands to be experienced on the biggest screen possible. But until its victory last morning, it had been nominated numerous times in the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay categories. I’ve never won an Oscar. Both for this and for the British’s quixotic determination to release ‘Tenet’ (2021) commercially, amid the pandemic where movie theaters are at their worst and other films are indefinitely postponing their release dates to protect themselves. possible box office failure. many scholars felt indebted to him. And it makes sense that they would choose their most acclaimed film to date to get the payoff.

blockbuster

The Academy doesn’t reward blockbusters just because they are; that’s why, for example, no episode of the ‘Fast and Furious’ saga was nominated. Tendency to reward commercial successIt’s in their best interest to nominate and reward films that their potential audiences can recognize and watch, both because it’s good for the industry in general and, given the audience problems the Oscars ceremony has had over the years. In fact, many have attributed some of the failure of films like ‘The Irishman’ (2019) and ‘The Fabelmans’ (2022) to win statuettes to paltry box office data. ‘Oppenheimer’ on the other hand earned almost a billion dollars worldwide. Yes that is right ‘Barbie‘ It grossed almost 1,500, but this movie is a comedy for the whole family inspired by the world’s most famous doll, so this figure is worth less. And since we’re talking about ‘Barbie’…

‘Barbenheimer’

The Oscars are one of the main tools Hollywood has to tell its story to future generations, and 2023 is focused on that story. A cultural phenomenon called ‘Barbenheimer’. Only one of the two films he starred in last night won, and the truth is that ‘Oppenheimer’ was always the academic favorite because it also It’s an overwhelming cinematographic spectacle and speaks to the issues involved such as the birth of the military-industrial complex, the transition from World War II to the Cold War, and the harm that approaching power could inflict on decent people.

good campaign

Throughout his career, Nolan has always stated: The image of a cold, distant and somewhat grumpy typeand in recent months has done everything possible to get out of this situation; In fact, in his acceptance speech after receiving the Best Director award from the New York Critics Circle, he showed that he knows how to laugh at himself by admitting that even his coach did not understand ‘Tenet’. Moreover, while campaigning for ‘Oppenheimer’, he received invaluable help from the film’s cast since the end of the film. American actors’ strike They did their best to promote it and praise each other. Speaking of the strike, ‘Oppenheimer’ started right after its release and thus did not damage its promotion as intensely as that of many other Best Picture Oscar contenders such as ‘Poor Creatures’ and ‘These’. who is left?