Oppenheimer: Christopher Nolan Reveals Why You Have Trouble Hearing His Movies

If you have trouble hearing Christopher Nolan's movies, IMAX cameras are partially to blame.

By Jenna Anderson

Oppenheimer arrived in theaters earlier this month, provoking a whole new conversation about the work of Christopher Nolan. In recent years, once popular complaint about Nolan's movies has concerned the sound quality, with certain lines of dialogue proving difficult to hear. In a recent interview with Insider, Nolan revealed that his use of IMAX cameras, which do not always have soundproof capabilities, sometimes gets in the way of having pristine sound. That, combined with his choice not to use ADR (additional dialogue recordings) to get clearing readings after the fact, leads to this trope — particularly in Oppenheimer.

"There are certain mechanical improvements," Nolan explained. "And actually, Imax is building new cameras right now which are going to be even quieter. But the real breakthrough is in software technology that allows you to filter out the camera noise. That has improved massively in the 15 or so years that I've been using these cameras. Which opens up for you to do more intimate scenes that you would not have been able to do in the past."

"I like to use the performance that was given in the moment rather than the actor revoice it later," Nolan added. "Which is an artistic choice that some people disagree with, and that's their right."

What Is Oppenheimer About?

Oppenheimer follows the life of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory during the Manhattan Project, and his contributions that led to the creation of the atomic bomb.

The film stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Emily Blunt as Katherine "Kitty" Oppenheimer, Matt Damon as Leslie Groves, Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss, Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, Benny Safdie as Edward Teller, Michael Angarano as Robert Serber, Josh Hartnett as Ernest Lawrence, Dylan Arnold as Frank Oppenheimer, David Krumholtz as Isidor Isaac Rabi, Matthew Modine as Vannevar Bush, Josh Peck as Kenneth Bainbridge, Devon Bostick as Seth Neddermeyer, Matthias Schweighöfer as Werner Heisenberg, Christopher Denham as Klaus Fuchs, Guy Burnet as George Eltenton, Danny Deferrari as Enrico Fermi, Emma Dumont as Jackie Oppenheimer, Gustaf Skarsgård as Hans Bethe, Trond Fausa Aurvåg as George Kistiakowsky, and Gary Oldman as Harry S. Truman.

"It's a story of immense scope and scale," Nolan previously said of the film in an interview with Total Film late last year. "And one of the most challenging projects I've ever taken on in terms of the scale of it, and in terms of encountering the breadth of Oppenheimer's story. There were big, logistical challenges, big practical challenges. But I had an extraordinary crew, and they really stepped up. It will be a while before we're finished. But certainly as I watch the results come in, and as I'm putting the film together, I'm thrilled with what my team has been able to achieve."

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What do you think of this new detail about Oppenheimer? How do you feel about Nolan not using ADR? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Oppenheimer is now playing exclusively in theaters.

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