Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" (July 21, 2017) - Part 2

[Deserana]

Deep down I think he wants at least one shot at Bond and I kind of feel he's earnt it now.

He could have walked into any franchise post TDK.

A Nolan Bond would be something special. Both movies Nolan had in mind for years (Inception and Dunkirk) have been received exceptionally and Nolan has probably had a Bomd movie in mind since childhood.

 

[terry78]

Off topic, but the trailer for An Inconvenient Sequel played before this and got subsequently booed. Which I found weirdly ironic.

 

[The Shape]

Just got out of my showing. Dunkirk is a brilliantly crafted film. It makes for such a wild film-going experience and it is further evidence that Christopher Nolan is a master filmmaker. Loved it.

More thoughts later.

 

[I Am The Knight]

Off topic, but the trailer for An Inconvenient Sequel played before this and got subsequently booed. Which I found weirdly ironic.

Never heard of that one.

 

[Kreem Pi]

Maybe he is referring to Just Us League.

 

[BatLobster]

Did this particular moment towards the end wreck anyone else emotionally like it did me?

Spoiler

"Be careful with him!"

"He's dead, mate."

"...Well then be bloody careful with him!"

(may have botched the line, going from memory)

I feel like it just perfectly encapsulated this moment of maintaining dignity and decency in the face of horror, in a perfectly understated, stiff upper lip kind of way. To me all of that stuff really hammered home the idea of the "Dunkirk spirit". The brevity of the exchange just said so much though, it really felt like something that could be a classic piece of dialogue from an old film.

 

[I Am The Knight]

Maybe he is referring to Just Us League.

Ah, silly me. That makes sense.

 

[Mysteryman]

Never heard of that one.

It's the sequel to the global warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.
It won an Oscar.
I believe Al Gore produced it.

 

[I Am The Knight]

It's the sequel to the global warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.
It won an Oscar.
I believe Al Gore produced it.

Oh, so it's a real thing? Never saw AIT.

 

[Kreem Pi]

......never mind.

 

[jmc]

http://variety.com/2017/film/news/box-office-dunkirk-girls-trip-valerian-2-1202503892/



http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-dunkirk-conquers-competition-505m-debut-valerian-bombs-1023700

Accountants at WB must love this dude. Constantly finishing early and coming in under budget.

 

[redfirebird2008]

Saw a comment from a producer at one of the AMPAS screenings who complained that Nolan is "incapable of linear storytelling." Seems like a very ignorant statement to me.

A filmmaker would need to have 100% understanding of how linear structure works in the first place to even think about putting together non-linear films that actually work for the audience (producer guy might not enjoy them, but MILLIONS of people do enjoy them).

 

[jmc]

There were murmurs if this movie would prove that Nolan is one of the few bankable directors left in Hollywood, so now I wonder what his career will look like going forward.

We've got a new crop of talent coming through so I wouldn't discount them just yet. I think what Dunkrik shows is there's a solid audience for Nolan films now regardless of subject matter, and that gives him the opportunity to pretty much do any film he wants and release it in July.

 

[BatLobster]

Saw a comment from a producer at one of the AMPAS screenings who complained that Nolan is "incapable of linear storytelling." Seems like a very ignorant statement to me.

A filmmaker would need to have 100% understanding of how linear structure works in the first place to even think about putting together non-linear films that actually work for the audience (producer guy might not enjoy them, but MILLIONS of people do enjoy them).

Insomnia, TDK, TDKR, Interstellar were all linear, so yeah it's an ignorant statement alright- not to mention Begins was only nonlinear for Act 1. Interstellar explicitly deals with time dilation and the concept of time being nonlinear when viewed from a higher dimension, but the story is still basically told from Cooper's perspective in a straightforward, linear way.

The more I think about it, the more I love what Nolan did with the timelines in Dunkirk. It makes this film quite a double whammy in the fact that it is the definitive cinematic depiction of a critical moment in history, while at the same time being a film that bares the mark of the auteur behind it. In other words, Nolan found a very effective, purely cinematic way to tell the story and he's the probably only one who would've attempted to do it that way. Excellent marriage of material and director.

 

[Anita18]

Saw a comment from a producer at one of the AMPAS screenings who complained that Nolan is "incapable of linear storytelling." Seems like a very ignorant statement to me.

A filmmaker would need to have 100% understanding of how linear structure works in the first place to even think about putting together non-linear films that actually work for the audience (producer guy might not enjoy them, but MILLIONS of people do enjoy them).

Absolutely. This is what I noted to my husband on the drive back from the IMAX - the fact that Nolan builds up intensity by using 3 storylines is phenomenal. I mean, it's hard enough to do it for ONE, and he does THREE and then puts it all together.

The time jump is especially poignant when you meet one character at what is the midway point of the story, and then see him a day before and how he is then. (If you watched Chris Stuckman's review, it's the one he mentions "seeing a character at night." You'll absolutely know which one I'm talking about.) It's a shocking, albeit almost throwaway moment.

A less shocking moment is the trick where he shows you the same event from different characters' POV, depending on whose viewpoint he takes at that moment. This happens several times in the movie, and it's really cool because you get to see how those different characters react to the same event.

I think I'll have to see it again to really get into it. Was too busy drooling at the IMAX sequences and deconstructing the structure. But God damn, it is gorgeous in 70mm IMAX. The aerial scenes, the soldiers on the beach, the (second to) last shot. Amazing. You think you've seen enough destroyers bombed on screen by the likes of Michael Bay to ever be impressed again, but I'm telling you, you will never be as impressed as seeing a destroyer bombed by a pilot's POV, shot on IMAX.

If you can, SEE THIS on 70mm IMAX.

 

[redfirebird2008]

Absolutely. This is what I noted to my husband on the drive back from the IMAX - the fact that Nolan builds up intensity by using 3 storylines is phenomenal. I mean, it's hard enough to do it for ONE, and he does THREE and then puts it all together.

The time jump is especially poignant when you meet one character at what is the midway point of the story, and then see him a day before and how he is then. (If you watched Chris Stuckman's review, it's the one he mentions "seeing a character at night." You'll absolutely know which one I'm talking about.) It's a shocking, albeit almost throwaway moment.

A less shocking moment is the trick where he shows you the same event from different characters' POV, depending on whose viewpoint he takes at that moment. This happens several times in the movie, and it's really cool because you get to see how those different characters react to the same event.

I think I'll have to see it again to really get into it. Was too busy drooling at the IMAX sequences and deconstructing the structure. But God damn, it is gorgeous in 70mm IMAX. The aerial scenes, the soldiers on the beach, the (second to) last shot. Amazing. You think you've seen enough destroyers bombed on screen by the likes of Michael Bay to ever be impressed again, but I'm telling you, you have never be as impressed as seeing a destroyer bombed by a pilot's POV, shot on IMAX.

If you can, SEE THIS on 70mm IMAX.

I've seen it 3 times in 1.43 Laser IMAX and it's phenomenal. Might be even better than 70mm IMAX since the Laser auditoriums have the upgraded sound system. When the opening title jumps to the first footage of the movie in full IMAX, the crowd seems to let out gasps and "wow."

It will never get old seeing this enormous image with such great clarity and brightness. The airplane sequences are some of the most stunning stuff I've ever seen in a movie theater.

 

[Boom]

And now begins the agonizing wait for Nolan to announce his next project.

 

[titansupes]

It's funny looking back on when this was announced-- "He's doing a WWII movie? JUST a WWII movie? No high-concept twists? I don't understand..."

We should have known better.

 

[Anita18]

I've seen it 3 times in 1.43 Laser IMAX and it's phenomenal. Might be even better than 70mm IMAX since the Laser auditoriums have the upgraded sound system. When the opening title jumps to the first footage of the movie in full IMAX, the crowd seems to let out gasps and "wow."

It will never get old seeing this enormous image with such great clarity and brightness. The airplane sequences are some of the most stunning stuff I've ever seen in a movie theater.

I think my next showing will have to be laser IMAX because it's the one I can make after work. I don't think I can drag my husband out to drive 30 min to the 70mm IMAX again. I'll have to make the comparison then! But the sound was already really impressive, the floors were shaking, the whole bit.

 

[jmc]

Nice to see your thoughts Anita, haven't read any reviews from you in a while.

 

[redfirebird2008]

I think my next showing will have to be laser IMAX because it's the one I can make after work. I don't think I can drag my husband out to drive 30 min to the 70mm IMAX again. I'll have to make the comparison then! But the sound was already really impressive, the floors were shaking, the whole bit.

It gets better and better with repeat viewings, just like Memento and Prestige. This has been my experience so far:

1. LieMAX 1.9 - Sound was not clear enough, missed 90% of the dialogue...confused by story structure.
2. Laser IMAX 1.43 - Incredible experience. Sound was much better. Still a bit confused by the structure.
3. Laser IMAX 1.43 - Incredible experience once again. Becoming more comfortable with the structure.
4. Laser IMAX 1.43 - The best experience by far. Finally felt like I really followed along with each story.​

Never has the phrase "LieMAX" been more true than with Dunkirk. Visually it's a very different movie in the two formats and the sound in LieMAX is total rubbish. It's very loud but not clear. Laser IMAX sound is phenomenal. And I would guess 70mm IMAX sound is a lot better on this film than the LieMAX version I experienced.

 

[StormC]

Just sat down and I realized I should have picked seats that were higher. D'oh.

At least it's 70mm, no LieMAX.

 

[Anita18]

Nice to see your thoughts Anita, haven't read any reviews from you in a while.

Oh ho, I have a long blog post in the works about Nolan's films and the construct of meaning. I wanted to wait until Dunkirk to really sort it out, but now I kinda wanna wait until FilmCritHulk comes out with his Nolan piece about the "cruelty of time." Because I haven't even really THOUGHT about time in Nolan's work and OMG too many things to think about!

It gets better and better with repeat viewings, just like Memento and Prestige. This has been my experience so far:

1. LieMAX 1.9 - Sound was not clear enough, missed 90% of the dialogue...confused by story structure.
2. Laser IMAX 1.43 - Incredible experience. Sound was much better. Still a bit confused by the structure.
3. Laser IMAX 1.43 - Incredible experience once again. Becoming more comfortable with the structure.
4. Laser IMAX 1.43 - The best experience by far. Finally felt like I really followed along with each story.​

Never has the phrase "LieMAX" been more true than with Dunkirk. Visually it's a very different movie in the two formats and the sound in LieMAX is total rubbish. It's very loud but not clear. Laser IMAX sound is phenomenal. And I would guess 70mm IMAX sound is a lot better on this film than the LieMAX version I experienced.

Nice! I watched Memento the night before Dunkirk, to remind myself of where Nolan came from, and there are SO MANY things that I'm catching now. It was almost disconcerting to see it again.

Oh man, after seeing it in IMAX, I don't think I could ever see this on LieMAX for sure. Or even a TV.

 

[Gold Samurai]

I'm still trying to understand the movie(and I actually got Interstellar!)

And now begins the agonizing wait for Nolan to announce his next project.

I don't think fans of his could handle a "TIME TRAVEL" movie. It would blow peoples minds. Doing the adventure and then undoing things so it never happened but events follow through like it did happen. Doctor Who does this all the time but imagine Nolan and time travel.

 

[Kreem Pi]

Do you guys this flick will have great legs?