Christopher Nolan’s five most recent films—Tenet, Interstellar, Dunkirk, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises—were all shown in IMAX 70mm on the full-size Krungrsi IMAX screen at Bangkok’s Paragon Cineplex. But Paragon’s IMAX 70mm projector was removed after it broke down during screenings of Tenet, and a laser projector was installed last year. A single laser projector is not capable of filling the 1.43:1 IMAX screen, so Nolan’s new film Oppenheimer alternates between 2.2:1 and 1.9:1 aspect ratios for its IMAX screenings at Paragon.
Regardless of the screening format, Oppenheimer is one of Nolan’s best films, with an impressive script that doesn’t dumb down its science or its politics. A dense biopic unfolding in non-chronological, staccato flashbacks, it orients the viewer with linear sequences shot in black-and-white (as in Memento). The camera often lingers on Cillian Murphy’s face, especially his piercing blue eyes, though there are also dazzling, abstract shots (created without resorting to CGI) of subatomic particles and vast explosions.
Regardless of the screening format, Oppenheimer is one of Nolan’s best films, with an impressive script that doesn’t dumb down its science or its politics. A dense biopic unfolding in non-chronological, staccato flashbacks, it orients the viewer with linear sequences shot in black-and-white (as in Memento). The camera often lingers on Cillian Murphy’s face, especially his piercing blue eyes, though there are also dazzling, abstract shots (created without resorting to CGI) of subatomic particles and vast explosions.