麻豆社

To mark the release of his latest film Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan takes Radio 2鈥檚 resident movie critic James King through the music of his films.

British-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan has been making films since he was just seven years old, and is now one of the most distinctive and celebrated directors and writers in the world, with a following of dedicated fans as well as critical and commercial success. In 2005, he released his breakthrough twisty thriller Memento, and hasn't looked back since.

In subsequent years he redefined the superhero genre with his acclaimed trilogy of Batman films, starring Christian Bale and featuring Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight. He kept audiences on their toes with magic mystery thriller The Prestige, then in the 2010s moved to mind-bending sci-fi and bagged his two Oscar nominations with Inception. Later came Interstellar and Tenet, as well as his WWII epic Dunkirk, based on the 1940 evacuations of Dunkirk. In 2019, Nolan was awarded with a CBE for his contributions to film.

Now, Nolan is once again telling a historical story with his 12th film, Oppenheimer. Based on the book American Prometheus, the film tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who helped develop the first first nuclear weapons on the Manhattan Project. An incredibly talent and revered scientist, he later opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb in the Cold War period and, combined with personal ill-feeling from others in power and a strong anti-communist sentiment in the USA at the time, was discredited publicly - a decision nullified by the US government in the years since his death in 1967. The film stars Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer, as well as Robert Downey Jr, Matt Damon and Emily Blunt.

When it comes to music, Nolan has worked with several notable composers on the score of his films, particularly Hans Zimmer and, more recently, Ludwig G枚ransson. His innovative and perfectionist approach to film music has seen him crowdsourcing fans chanting for The Dark Knight Rises, extensively using the never-ending Shepard Tone illusion to create tension, and even recording the ticking of his own pocket watch. He discusses all this and more with James King.

Discover more episodes of My Soundtrack Stories on 麻豆社 Sounds.