NEW YORK.- Christopher Nolan I was still sleeping when his movie, Oppenheimer, got 13 nominations to the Academy Awards on Tuesday. Emma Thomas, Nolan’s wife and producing partner, woke him up after a flurry of congratulatory messages arrived on her phone.
“Don’t think it was indifference,” Nolan told The Associated Press, laughing. “We just didn’t want to jinx anything. Watching the nominations was more than our nerves could handle, so we spent the night busy and slept.”
Nolan and Thomas didn’t have much reason to be anxious. Oppenheimer, Nolan’s sprawling American saga about J. Walter Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb has been more or less the Oscar favorite since it made its acclaimed debut in late July. On Tuesday, he earned nominations for seemingly every creative aspect of his filmmaking, including acting nominations for Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt.
Nominations
Oppenheimer was nominated for directing and Nolan’s adapted screenplay; by the cinematography of Hoyte van Hoytema; Jennifer Lame’s editing; Ellen Mirojnick’s costume design; production design by Ruth De Jong and Claire Kaufman; Luisa Abel’s makeup and hairstylist; better sound; and the original music of Ludwig Gransson. It fell one nomination short of tying the record for most Oscar nominations for a film, which they still hold. All About Eve (The wicked), Titanic y La La Land (La La Land: city of dreams).
“It’s amazing,” said Thomas, who spoke with her husband in an interview a few hours after the nominations were announced. “Then we continued with the routine of waking up a 16-year-old boy, but taking excited steps.”
Although Nolan is considered the great filmmaker of his time, he has never won an Academy Award, nor has any of his films won the award for best picture. He was nominated for best director once before, for Dunkirk (Dunkerque). But Nolan’s absence from cinema’s biggest stage has often been more notable than the honors his films have received. After The Dark Knight (Batman: The Dark Knight) was passed over for best picture in 2009, the academy expanded the category to more than five films.
Los scar this year could be headed for a coronation for Nolan, 53, and a three-hour work that broke records – and conventional Hollywood logic – by grossing almost $1 billion worldwide. Nolan and Thomas reflected on the film’s success at the Academy Awards.
Interview with Christopher Nolan
AP: You see the success of Oppenheimer as a statement to the industry, which generally funnels big budgets into sequels and remakes, about what is possible for an original film made on a large scale?
Nolan: I grew up loving Hollywood movies and believing that studio-made movies can take on anything. Seeing the public respond to that this summer was incredibly exciting and to receive this kind of recognition from the academy, I don’t know what to say, really. Without a doubt, it confirms our faith in what studio cinema can be.
AP: Have you reflected on why Oppenheimer Has it resonated so much with the public?
Nolan: It is always complicated to try to analyze the spirit of the time or analyze success. We were very interested and excited, in particular, to see young people responding to a piece of history. I return again and again to the unique nature of the story. I think it’s one of the great American stories. It covers many important and dramatic things from our past. That gives the audience a lot to hold on to, when you have a great group of actors and an incredible cast like we have, you can make this feel real and emotionally accessible. Until then I can analyze its success. Beyond that, sometimes you ride a wave and it’s something wonderful and unique.
Thomas: You often think of history as the distant past, and not terribly relevant to the present. But I think what’s special about Oppenheimer’s story is that everything the movie is about also has direct relevance to this moment. And I think that’s something that really moved the audience.
Nolan: Yes, that’s a good point. When I started the project, one of my sons told me about nuclear weapons: people my age don’t worry that much about that. This was a couple of years ago. With everything that has happened in the world since then, that has changed a lot. We arrived just at a time when people were starting to worry about this again, and worry about the fate of the world. Oppenheimer’s story is very relevant to that, not only because of the threat of nuclear weapons, but also to the growing threat of artificial intelligence and what it can do to our world.
AP: Although their films have often been celebrated by the academy, neither has won an Oscar. Does this year feel different?
Nolan: I think the breadth of recognition that we woke up to this morning is something we haven’t experienced before, and it’s really exciting for us. It’s a unique feeling to see the academy recognize all the different aspects of the film, from the performances to the technical achievements of the film. I grew up watching the Academy Awards. It is the pinnacle of recognition from your peers.
AP: Ven Oppenheimer As the culmination of your collaboration as a team?
Thomas: It definitely feels like a movie that was made with all the things we’ve learned together over the years. Everything has come together in this film. But I hope it’s not the culmination. I hope we can do another one. (Laughs) We’re halfway there!
Nolan: We’re just getting started! With each movie, you try to build on what you’ve learned in previous movies.
AP: Are you planning to celebrate tonight?
Thomas: Well, we’ll probably have dinner with our kids. We have one who is going back to university. We’ll have a family celebration, that feels completely appropriate given the nature of our film and the way we work.
FUENTE: AP
