r/OppenheimerMovie • u/_DuckieFuckie_ “Can You Hear the Music?” • Jul 30 '23
Oppenheimer’s soundtrack is one of the few soundtracks that perfectly complement the actual scenes. Music Discussion
I mean it’s no surprise, considering how much attention Ludwig Göransson and Nolan have put into the soundtrack (the ending sequence of “Can you hear the music” took three days to make according to Göransson with multiple iterations to achieve the perfection). You listen to it after watching the movie you can literally remember the scenes of the movie.
I was listening to “Can you hear the Music” today, and it’s a beautiful melody. It starts with a peaceful note, exactly reflecting Oppenheimer’s state of mind after his meeting with Niels Bohr, an curious and passionate thinker. As the scenes progress, so does the soundtrack with the tempo of the song changing every four bars, with ideas flashing inside his head which are visually represented
as microscopic dust particles and fluorescent lights buzz across screen before resting on a final shot of spinning atoms. I think it was the movies way of a peek inside Oppenheimer’s head, the inception of ideas inside his mind, the first time the idea that atoms can be used springs inside his head. The scene is so beautifully crafted that I was mesmerised when I first saw it. The whole scene per se was an representation of Oppenheimer’s happier state of mind, his moment where he thought science could change the world for better.
On the other “Destroyer of Worlds” has similar notes, but they become profoundly disturbing as they progress. Oppenheimer’s realisation about how his splitting of atoms has started an chain reaction, an global arms race with an potential of entirely wiping out the humanity. Cillian’s delivery of “I believe we did” against the drop of the soundtrack is perfection, it single-handedly makes Oppenheimer’s ending so much more impactful.
Really beautiful how Nolan has touched all bases for this masterpiece. Göransson should win this years Oscar for original soundtrack, I don’t think anything this year is even gonna come close to it.
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u/InternationalAd1512 Jan 14 '24
As a standalone soundtrack, of course it’s brilliant. But it played constantly throughout the film and was a major distraction for me. It became maddening. I just wanted the music to stop so I could hear the dialogue. I gave up less than halfway through the film and walked out.