DAMMAM: Movie fans in the Middle East have been flocking to see director Christopher Nolan’s long-awaited summer blockbuster “Oppenheimer,” which has already broken the 2023 record for advance ticket sales in Saudi Arabia, according to the country’s major cinema chains.
Advanced bookings began last week and, after just six days, the film had become the country’s biggest pre-release seller this year, the Kingdom’s largest operators confirmed.
Cinemagoers in the Kingdom spoke to Arab News after watching the film on July 20 when it was released across the GCC.
Advanced bookings began last week and, after just six days, the film had become the country’s biggest pre-release seller this year, the Kingdom’s largest operators confirmed. (AFP)
Saudi-born high school buddies, Rayan and Hassan, watched the movie at the Muvi cinema in Dhahran Mall.
Rayan, who says he has an insatiable appetite for science and was familiar with the Oppenheimer story well before the movie’s release, dragged his friend Hassan along to watch it.
“If you didn’t have a background in the story of the making of the atomic bombs, you wouldn’t be able to comprehend the early scenes,” Rayan told Arab News. “It was three long hours, but they didn’t utilize the time wisely. They concealed vital parts of the overall story and spent way too long on other parts. Like the trial at the end, it was too dragged out.”
“I was excited when I heard about the film and how it dedicated so much to something very important that everyone will be talking about — because everyone should know and talk about it. But I felt they tried to make the US look good or better in relation to Japan than what reality shows,” he added.
The movie stars Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer. (AFP)
Hassan watched with less knowledge of the story but still enjoyed it. “It was a good movie, honestly, but a bit too long. They showed us how many times they tested the atomic bombs, it was way too many, it was more than four or five times — one or two times was enough. At the beginning, I didn’t understand anything then it started to make sense,” he told Arab News.
Written and directed by Oscar-nominee Nolan, who shot the film specifically for IMAX screens, “Oppenheimer” charts the story of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer who was pivotal in developing the first nuclear weapons as part of the Manhattan Project.
“We put a lot of effort into shooting the film in a way that we can get it out on these large-format screens. It really is just a great way of giving people an experience that they can’t possibly get at home,” Nolan told the Associated Press.
In the UAE, fans were similarly enthused.
“Oppenheimer is truly an unparalleled masterpiece … The awe-inspiring performances along with the mesmerizing visuals and of course powerful storytelling created one of the greatest pieces in cinematic history,” said Fairouz Shalaby.
American-Egyptian fan Yasmeen Abdelfatah said: “In terms of production and acting, it’s absolutely perfect. The story puts you in an existential trance where you are questioning the foundations of morality altogether. Haven’t watched a movie in a long time that had me thinking this much.”
However, not all reviews were positive.
Fuad Maktabi, who is Lebanese and based in Dubai, believes the movie is “overrated.”
“The storyline both feels like it’s going at lightning speed but at the same time develops super slow. There are many different details that are unnecessary to the main plot, which is also quite hazy,” he told Arab News. “They also make you feel anxious the whole time for no reason. It would have been nice for them to play out what the Germans and Russians were actually doing. The only nice part were the sound effects.”
The movie stars Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer and Golden Globe winner Emily Blunt as his wife, the biologist and botanist Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer.
Oscar winner Matt Damon portrays Gen. Leslie Groves, director of the Manhattan Project, and Robert Downey Jr. plays Lewis Strauss, a founding commissioner of the US Atomic Energy Commission, alongside Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, and Josh Hartnett as pioneering American nuclear scientist Ernest Lawrence.
Middle Eastern fans — including those who have not watched the movie — have been sharing their thoughts about the film on Twitter.
“To me Cillian Murphy was an okay actor, but after the movie ‘Oppenheimer’ my perspective about him changed 180 degrees. I swear he is a great actor,” one user wrote, while another said: “Deserves a clap? Yes, strongly.”
Other fans are worried they will not enjoy the movie. “I feel like after the strong hype ‘Oppenheimer’ is getting, I won’t like it,” a user said.
Some shared glimpses with their followers of their experiences at the movies. One user wrote: “These were the rituals of preparation for ‘Oppenheimer.’” This was accompanied by pictures from the car ride, the movie poster, the popcorn and a short clip from the film.
Meanwhile, the film has scored rave reviews from critics in Hollywood, despite some criticism over its three-hour runtime.
Associated Press film writer Lindsey Bahr wrote on Twitter: “Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ is truly a spectacular achievement in its truthful, concise adaptation, inventive storytelling and nuanced performances from Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon and the many, many others involved.”
US journalist and filmmaker Bilge Ebiri tweeted: “‘Oppenheimer’ is ... incredible. The word that keeps coming to mind is ‘fearsome.’ A relentlessly paced, insanely detailed, intricate historical drama that builds and builds and builds until Nolan brings the hammer down in the most astonishing, shattering way.”
Former critic Kenneth Turan, writing for the Los Angeles Times, hailed “Oppenheimer” as “arguably Nolan’s most impressive work yet in the way it combines his acknowledged visual mastery with one of the deepest character dives in recent American cinema.”
