After 5 artistic experiences that brought together director Christopher Nolan and Irish actor Killian Murphy, Murphy finally got the role that allows him to show his acting muscles through the movie “Oppenheimer”, currently available in theaters, whose revenues exceeded $ 180 million in less than a week. susceptible.
The new role of the Irish actor will – most likely – secure a seat in the Oscar 2024 nominations, as he performed the character of Oppenheimer, the famous physicist who invented the atomic bomb, in 3 stages of life, beginning with the fragile smart student and the feat teacher who combines arrogance and genius, and finally the man who is hostile to the government that raised him. high and spiritually fading because of the crime he committed against humanity.
And because “Oppenheimer” is not the only work worth watching for Murphy, here are other films in which he played roles that are no less important than his new role, and we advise you to follow them if you have not seen them before.
#Oppenheimer grosses $174M at the worldwide box office in its opening weekend 💰
The film’s budget was $100M pic.twitter.com/YHKvVXKveo
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) July 23, 2023
The work that changed the history of “zombie” movies
In 2002, director Danny Boyle presented the British horror film “28 Days Later”, which changed the direction of “zombie” films after it, as the work came out of the realm of regular horror films that show the idea of the end of the world or zombies who are characterized by slow motion and devouring People before they finally die, into a work that includes human drama and a political character.
Even at the image level, Boyle resorted to the “MiniDV” camera; On the one hand, to reduce production costs, and on the other, to give a visual state of instant horror, especially with the zombies being given nihilistic characters that are more daring and fast than usual, giving the work a brutal realism that made it difficult not to take what is happening on the screen seriously.
🎥 28 Days Later (dir. Danny Boyle, 2002) pic.twitter.com/FqJUF9zgky
— Daily Cillian Murphy (@cilliandailypic) July 18, 2023
The protagonist, played by Cillian Murphy, awakens from a coma in London, abandoned after an aggressive and highly contagious virus breaks out, transforming humans into zombies and causing society to collapse.
During the hero’s journey and his attempts to survive and adapt to this threatening situation to survive, Murphy shines by embodying a series of selected feelings that are appropriate for each situation, between fear, sadness, anger and love.
Because of the director’s in-depth look at infectious diseases and the accompanying global anxiety, as well as the way the city’s streets were portrayed devoid of people, many viewers compared the film to what actually happened in the world in terms of closure and psychological tension during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The work won the approval of critics who praised the soundtrack, directing, script and acting, and Stylus Magazine ranked it the second best zombie movie ever, while Time Out ranked it the 97th best British film in cinema history, as for revenue, The film earned nearly $85 million out of a total budget of $8 million.
In 2007, a second part was released, titled “28 Weeks Later”, although Danny Boyle stated his interest in making a third part, and author Alex Garland confirmed that he had a good idea for the work, but it has not yet seen the light.
Most popular independent film
According to critical and artistic reviews, The Wind That Shakes the Barley – which won the Palme d’Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival – was rated the best independent Irish film, the most popular and the most profitable at the time of its release, and even critic Roger Ebert chose it. Among the best war films ever made.
Critics expressed their admiration for the directing and cinematography, and Murphy’s performance, which excelled at expressing the transformations accompanying the character he plays. As for the public, they not only loved the work, but also urged them to return to the history books to find out the truth about what happened, influenced by the plot that dealt with the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921) and the Irish Civil War (1922-1923).
If you enjoyed Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer and haven’t seen The Wind That Shakes the Barley, I highly recommend that one.
— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) July 24, 2023
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006) Ken Loach pic.twitter.com/gTgIUlO0Ob
— Ophanin (@MathieuOphanin) July 22, 2023
The film presented the story of two brothers who join together in the local Irish Republican Army faction, and with the arrival of a peace treaty with the British forces, each adopts a contradictory view of the other, which ends up fighting against each other.
between epic and reality
Despite the small role that Murphy played in the movie “Dunkirk” by Christopher Nolan, which revolves around World War II, specifically the task of evacuating more than 300,000 Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk, he succeeded in presenting the role of the soldier with severe post-traumatic stress disorder. Immediately after rescuing him, pointing attention towards him.
The work was distinguished by the way of narration that relied on the visual side and depicted the story from a marine, land and air point of view, in addition to the soundtrack by “Hans Zimmer”, which qualified him to be nominated for 8 Oscars, of which he won two.
It is worth noting that Nolan received his first Oscar nomination for directing.
