Oscars: Oppenheimer's triumph gives hope to moviegoers

These seven statuettes establish Christopher Nolan as the greatest contemporary filmmaker and give new hope to cinema in theaters.

Finally. Finally, the hour of the coronation has come. Oppenheimer And Chris Nolan have as expected flew over this 96th edition of the Oscarswinning no less than 7 awards including the most coveted, that of best film.

Cillian Murphy amazed by his Oscar for Best Actor for Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan here definitively seals his status as a generational filmmaker. At 53, and after having previously been nominated 5 times (as director or screenwriter) without having ever won anything, he becomes the best Hollywood director this evening. A fair return of things as this guy understood his times (since at least Memento), and knew how to take the pulse of the moment in each film while formulating cinematic ideas that left spectators stunned all the time – or as we say in English puzzled.

Faced with the pop inconsistency of the great Hollywood spectacle, Christopher Nolan was able to create a spectacular and uncompromising filmography, constantly engaged and playful, experimental and fun. But Oppenheimer is a special film, a synthesis of his art and a surprise. This is what he explained in the interview he gave us (and whichwe can read in the issue of First still on newsstands):

“I've had success with independent films, with big studio films, with blockbusters… But sometimes you feel like you're riding a cultural wave. You're where the thing is, at the moment. , people's interest. Some of my films have made more money than Oppenheimerbut there was never such a perfect alignment between what I was trying to do as a storyteller and the type of story audiences were expecting.”

We could therefore add “and that the Academy hoped for.”

He said nothing else when accepting his prize that night: “The history of films is barely a hundred years old. Imagine being here a hundred after the invention of painting or theater. No one knows where this incredible journey will take us yet. But knowing that you consider me worthy of being part of it means a lot!”

These Oscars for best director and best film sanctify the quality of the director and the film as much as its performance at the box office. Because Oppenheimer was a surprise success that in a way reassured Hollywood of its own abilities. At a time when superheroes were still the alpha and omega, where franchises abound, where “toy adaptations” explode all records, and where super authors opt for platforms, the success of this drama biopic (on a subject “so serious”with stars in small roles) had given hope to the executives.

The triumph ofOppenheimer marked both the triumph of cinema in theaters (and the zeros scored for Killers of the Flower Moon And Maestro must necessarily be read in this light), but also the return of blockbusters (look at the list of the last Oscars, all awarded to independent films – from CODA has Parasite Passing by Moonlight…). Above all, it validated (we'll come back to that) the triumph of a super author and the recognition by his peers of the power of Nolan's imprint on pop culture.

With this Oscar, Nolan joins Cameron and Spielberg, and definitively establishes himself as one of the greatest filmmakers in the world. On a symbolic level, he has even just surpassed his master (Kubrick has never won a statuette)…

EXCLUDED – Christopher Nolan: “Oppenheimer is the most conceptual film I have ever made”