‘Oppenheimer’ finally opens in Japan, gaining mixed reviews

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has finally been released in Japan, and the film has been met with mixed reviews. 

• READ MORE: ‘Oppenheimer’ review: Christopher Nolan’s mind-blowing biopic hits like a bomb to the brain 

The biopic profiles Robert J. Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy, the real-life American physicist who played a pivotal role in the creation of the atomic bomb in World War II. 

Often dubbed ‘the father of the atomic bomb’, Oppenheimer was instrumental in the creation of the nuclear weapons that were used in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the only use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict in human history. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens were killed. 

With the film now having been released in the country, the mayor of Hiroshima has been critical, saying (via Associated Press): “From Hiroshima’s standpoint, the horror of nuclear weapons was not sufficiently depicted. The film was made in a way to validate the conclusion that the atomic bomb was used to save the lives of Americans.” 

Many have accused Nolan’s film of being insensitive to Japan and its harrowing past. Spike Lee previously questioned why the movie doesn’t show the impact the atomic bombs had on the Japanese public, with the film focusing solely on the US side of the events. 

Another movie-goer told Reuters: “Of course this is an amazing film which deserves to win the Academy Awards. But the film also depicts the atomic bomb in a way that seems to praise it, and, as a person with roots in Hiroshima, I found it difficult to watch.”  

Another viewer, Koichi Takeshita, who lives in Nagasaki, told NPR: “The last look of Oppenheimer in the film was that of pain. It was a look of either regret, because he was the person who made the A-bomb, or he didn’t know what to do and was sad, as tens of thousands of people died.” 

It has been estimated that Nolan made over $85 million (£66 million) for the film. 

The director agreed to a deal with Universal after splitting with his long-time studio partners Warner Bros. after being one of several industry figures who criticised the studio for their decision to release their entire slate of 2021 movies simultaneously in cinemas and on HBO Max. 

Nolan’s deal with Universal sees him earn a 15% cut of Oppenheimer’s “first-dollar gross,” which means he earns a portion of the film’s revenue from the outset, even before the studio recovers its costs. 

Oppenheimer was the biggest winner at this year’s BAFTAs, winning a total of seven, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Murphy. It also proved successful at this year’s Oscars, taking home seven prizes, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. 

In a five-star review of the the film, NME shared: “Not just the definitive account of the man behind the atom bomb, Oppenheimer is a monumental achievement in grown-up filmmaking. For years, Nolan has been perfecting the art of the serious blockbuster – crafting smart, finely-tuned multiplex epics that demand attention; that can’t be watched anywhere other than in a cinema, uninterrupted, without distractions. But this, somehow, feels bigger.” 

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