It was the biggest night in Cinema and Oppenheimer swept the Oscars 2024. Christopher Nolan blockbuster biopic on the father of atomic bomb took home seven Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director.
Despite losing the box office battle to Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, the Nolan-Cillian Murphy collaboration movie managed to triumph over everyone. The atomic-bomb thriller was up against films like Maestro, The Holdovers, Past Lives, Killers of the Flower Moon, though the Nolan directorial movie was much ahead in the race from the very beginning. Meanwhile, Barbie just won Best Original Song Award.
Christopher Nolan Picks His First Academy Award
Oppenheimer earned 13 nominations this year and won seven Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. It won the Best Film Editing and Best Cinematography as well. Ludwig Göransson also took home the Oscar for Best Original Score.
It was a first-time experience for the Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr trio. Christopher Nolan, the visionary filmmaker was previously nominated for directing Dunkirk in 2017 and for original screenplay in 2010 for Inception and in 2001 for Memento. But he had never won an Academy Award.
Nolan beat out Yorgos Lanthimos of Poor Things, Jonathan Glazer of The Zone of Interest, Martin Scorsese of Killers of the Flower Moon, and Justine Triet of Anatomy of a Fall.
“We don’t know where this incredible journey is going from here but to know that you think I’m a meaningful part of it means the world to me,” Nolan said while giving the acceptance speech.
“I have been dreaming about this moment for so long,” said Emma Thomas, Nolan’s wife and producing partner, accepting the best picture award.
Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr Win Their Career’s First Oscars
After years of hard work and dedication, Cillian Murphy finally has an Oscar as he has won the Best Actor for his brilliant performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man who created the atomic bomb in Oppenheimer.
“I’m a little overwhelmed,” Murphy said.
“I’m a very proud Irishman standing here tonight. We made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb, and for better or for worse we’re all living in Oppenheimer’s world. So I dedicate this to the peacemakers.“
Robert Downey Jr, after having been nominated twice for Chaplin and Tropic Thunder, now has won the Best Actor in a Supporting Role category for his portrayal of Lewis Strauss.
“I would like to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy, in that order,” Downey said, also thanking his wife. “She found me a snarling rescue pet and loved me back to life.”
About Oppenheimer he said, “Here’s my little secret, I needed this job more than it needed me. It was fantastic and I stand here a better man because of it.”
Meanwhile, for her performance in Poor Things, Emma Stone has won her second Oscars after La La Land as she beat Lily Gladstone in Best Actress Category. Poor Things also won awards for production design, hairstyling and makeup and costume design.
