After all the hype 'Barbenheimer' has generated, and after a long wait- here I am to write about my experience of it. And I've realized just like all trends, it seems exciting at the outset, but when it's all done and over with, it gives us a slight feeling of disillusionment. But, 'Barbenheimer' is a trend worth trying out- if only for the fact that you get to be blown away by Oppenheimer and slightly confused with Barbie.
Let me start with Barbie first. I loved the silliness, I loved the Kens, (especially the dancing) and I loved Margot Robbie- but after a while its either a silly movie or a deeply philosophical one. Because of the deep respect I have for the director- Greta Gerwig, I prefer to take the movie as a deeply philosophical one, albeit one which I perhaps have to see again to fully understand. Maybe- since the main characters are dolls, things that seem silly in the movie are probably just imagination and so if i accept that as real and valid, then perhaps the movie makes sense and is about Barbie and Ken fighting to discover who they are.
If you did not understand my previous sentence in one go, then it's difficult to understand Barbie in the first watching. But kudos to the director and the excellent cast. The cast really triumphed.
I have to say that Margot Robbie is rapidly turning into an actress I really respect.
Raizel's Rantings: As I always say- there is something in the water in Australia. how else do all wonderful actors and actresses spring from there?
Ryan Gosling was so astonishingly believable as Ken in a way I will not forget for a long, long, time. I have to say I liked Asian Ken (Simu Liu) too.
Now - on to Oppenheimer. It's a completely different movie, obviously and that's why this Barbenheimer trend exists. Seeing that it's Christopher Nolan directing, I was prepared to have scenes go back and forth and not understand the movie in one go. But, by heavens- he just sucked us into the movie. It was a piece of cinema so brilliant about a lone man- that even Christopher Nolan couldn't go wrong. The birth of the atomic bomb was a lengthy, painful process for its father and the after math of it had its effects throughout the world. Oppenheimer is the story of a man who realized at last that his creation was the beginning of the end of the destruction of the world.
The sweeping music, the scenes connecting his thoughts and his memories, the stomping of feet - the echo of the march into the inevitable future into which he thrust the whole world, rings in our ears- long after we leave the movie theatre. It was a movie I was willing to watch again.
Perhaps a special mention to Cillian Murphy. I have not had a chance to see much of his earlier acting, but by gosh- this man can act. I love how he really gets into the spirit of his character. Perhaps I have to say that Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh did a great job as well. Pugh didn't get enough screen time for an actress of her ability but Emily Blunt was terrific in the scene where she answers questions from the prosecuting officer.
Perhaps its just me. I'm more of a history buff and a dramatic cinema lover than a fan of dolls or philosophy. But for me, for now-(till something changes my mind), and in contrast to what popular reviews say, Oppenheimer was the better experience.
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