Christopher Nolan isn’t a fan of CGI for CGI’s sake. The director famously prefers practical VFX, choosing to eschew computer graphics entirely to recreate a nuclear explosion in “Oppenheimer.” But while splitting the atom without digital effects is apparently possible, it seems the naked female form left censors with no option but to break out the CGI.
As reported by Newsweek, Twitter (now “X,” apparently) has played host to a number of reports of censorship from overseas moviegoers. Specifically, a scene where Florence Pugh appears nude has seemingly been edited to include a CGI black dress covering the actor’s body. One tweet from an Indian user included a screenshot of the moment in question.
The best ever cg work in India award goes to the Indian censor board for florence pugh black dress in #Oppenheimer pic.twitter.com/VRPBy0ARKp
— lucho 🇪🇸 (@busigoatt) July 23, 2023
As Newsweek reports, this censored version of the movie appears to be playing in multiple markets, with one user replying that, “Indonesia has the exact same censorship,” while another seemingly confirmed the edited film is also playing in Bangladesh. This all points to Universal Pictures being the culprit behind the scandalous digital dress, as multiple countries’ censorship boards couldn’t have all conceived of the same “solution.”
Earlier this year, India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) made multiple changes to the film “Kuttey,” including the removal of “full frontal nudity,” according to the Indian Express. In this case, however, it seems possible, even likely, that Universal may have tried to pre-empt a similar situation by making a nudity-free version of “Oppenheimer.” What’s more, there are reports from other Twitter users suggesting several other edits have been made, including “jerk cuts,” “black spray paint” and “one single scene which is blurred.” And with the runtime reportedly remaining unchanged between the U.S. release and these edited versions, all signs point towards Universal trying to pre-emptively navigate international censorship rules.