By Garry Maddox
Alex Temesvari is buzzing.
Not only is Sydney’s grand Cremorne Orpheum having the biggest box office week in its history but a surprising thing has happened – Oppenheimer has been bigger than Barbie, the reverse of the global box office trend.
Projectionist Rob Murphy says the quality of Oppenheimer in 70mm is especially noticeable in the atomic bomb blast scene.Credit: Universal Pictures
“We’re absolutely blown away,” Temesvari, the cinema’s general manager, said between packed sessions.
Around the world, Greta Gerwig’s comedy Barbie ($565 million after five days) has been far more popular than Christopher Nolan’s epic biopic Oppenheimer ($309 million) as the two movies combine to bring audiences back to cinemas.
But the cultural phenomenon that is Barbenheimer has shown there are fans in both Melbourne and Sydney prepared to travel across town and pay $5 more to see Oppenheimer in 70mm – a format that was seemingly superseded when the digital revolution swept through the film industry.
Alex Temesvari, general manager at the Cremorne Orpheum, says they’ve been blown away by the response to Oppenheimer.Credit: Louise Kennerley
At the charming Sun Theatre in Melbourne’s Yarraville, senior film projectionist Rob Murphy has been run off his feet screening three 70mm sessions of Oppenheimer a day.
“I’ve been doing 11-hour days,” he said. “It’s going nuts.”
While some film-goers argue that digital cameras and projection are now so good that only aficionados can tell the difference, a handful of Hollywood directors led by Nolan, Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson shoot their movies on celluloid in the belief they look better on screen.
Murphy insists Oppenheimer in 70mm is a noticeably better experience than in a cinema with digital projection.
“You get higher clarity,” he said. “And the big thing people notice straight away is that digital isn’t capable of producing really deep, rich blacks yet, whereas film really does. It just sparkles. It just jumps off the screen more.”
Murphy said the difference was especially noticeable in the atomic bomb blast scene.
“Because it takes place in the dark, it just looks beautiful because the blacks are perfect. Whereas if you watch it digitally ... you get a muddy, kind of cacky black.
“The bright oranges in the explosion contrast with the deep black and the DTS sound really hits you as it should at that moment. It’s quite visceral.”
Oppenheimer has been screening in 70mm at six cinemas around the country – the Sun, Astor, Village Cinemas Rivoli and IMAX in Melbourne and the Orpheum and Randwick Ritz in Sydney.
“I’ve been doing 11-hour days. It’s going nuts”: Senior film projectionist Rob Murphy at the Sun Theatre in Yarraville.Credit: Justin McManus
While Barbie is bigger at the Sun, Oppenheimer is number one at the Ritz.
Programming manager Benji Tamir said it had been selling out a 500-seat cinema every night in 70mm.
“It’s definitely a unique experience,” he said. “A lot of people aren’t used to it. It kind of flickers, the black and white scenes, so people are questioning ‘why does it look like this?’
“Our projectionist says ‘there’s a reason they used to call it the flicks’. You can literally see the flickers.”
Matt Damon as General Leslie Groves, left, and Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer.Credit: Universal
Ron Pettersson watched Oppenheimer at a western suburbs multiplex then at the Ritz. He agreed there was a quality difference.
In a congratulatory message to the Ritz staff, Pettersson raved about the 70mm sound (the explosions “you practically feel in your seat and vibrating on the floor and walls”) and the picture quality (“gorgeous with beautiful light, tone and clarity”).
Tamir said the 70mm audience was heavily male and “all ages from 20 to 70”. They were willing to pay an extra $5 for a ticket to cover the cost of a dedicated projectionist to stay in the bio box for all three hours of the movie.
“You can’t just let it run by itself,” he said. “It’s a monster print, 18 kilometres long.”
At the Orpheum, Temesvari said the 70mm screenings were attracting film enthusiasts, people wanting a special experience and Nolan fans.
“They know having Christopher Nolan’s name on a poster means something,” he said. “If he’s saying ‘this is how I want you to see it’, they just go for it.”
Email Garry Maddox at gmaddox@smh.com.au and follow him on Twitter at @gmaddox.
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