Tag: Christopher Nolan

  • ‘Dunkirk’ tells the story of a war-time miracle that was not a victory

    ‘Dunkirk’ tells the story of a war-time miracle that was not a victory

    Aneurin Barnard, Harry Styles and Fionn Whitehead in ‘Dunkirk’

    We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations – Winston Churchill in a speech delivered to the House of Commons on June 4, 1940

    “I was standing on the beach looking across at England when I heard a voice say “are you coming? It’s your last chance”. I saw a sort of fishing boat that was picking up stragglers and I boarded it and lay back with my hands dangling in the water. I fell asleep and the next thing I knew I was at Dover” – Romeo Jenkins, a British soldier who survived the Dunkirk Evacuation

    Writer/Producer/Director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises) is not the first filmmaker to tell the story of the Dunkirk Evacuation (code-name Operation Dynamo).  Bernard Lee, best known for playing “M” the head of MI-6 in the first 11 “official” Bond films was one of the stars of the 1958 film, also titled Dunkirk.  More on those other movies later but one thing is certain.  Of all the films made about the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from the beaches of Dunkirk, Nolan’s film is the best to date.

    Following a non-linear structure, Nolan tells the tale using three sections.  The Mole.  The Sea.  The Air.  What differentiates them is the time involved in making the journey from the beaches of Dunkirk to safety in England.

    The Mole refers to the large pier at Dunkirk where one could board a large vessel via a ramp. We are shown extremely long lines of soldiers waiting to be saved by the arrival of those ships.  “Tommy” (Fionn Whitehead) managing to make it to Dunkirk is a miracle and once there he tries desperately to get onto a ship at the Mole.  So does “Alex” (Harry Styles).  The timeframe for a soldier to get home from the end of that long line leading away from The Mole is one week.

    “Mr. Dawson” (Mark Rylance – Bride of Spies) owns a small boat.  He and the owners of many other such small boats are pressed into service to sail to Dunkirk and rescue as many of the soldiers of the BEF as they can.  His journey to Dunkirk represents The Sea and the timeframe of one day.  The Royal Navy is using their personnel to take these commandeered vessels across the Channel but Mr. Dawson takes his son “Peter” (Tom Glynn-Carney) and teenaged deckhand “George” (Barry Keoghan – Traders) as his crew before the Royal Navy sailors can board.

    Barry Keoghan and Mark Rylance in ‘Dunkirk’

    On the trip to Dunkirk they rescue a survivor from a German U-boat attack.  “Shivering Soldier” (Cillian Murphy – Anthropoid) is in shock but comes completely unglued when he learns the boat is bound toward Dunkirk rather than heading home.  A scuffle ensues and George is severely injured.  Later the boat rescues “Collins” (Jack Lowden – A United Kingdom) a Spitfire pilot who was shot down.

    The Air refers to those Spitfire pilots, who could traverse the distance to Dunkirk in only one hour.  Because the Germans had halted the advance of their tanks toward the BEF (a major error by the German High Command, and part of the events at Dunkirk omitted from the film), the air cover provided by those Spitfires to the troops on the beach was critical to their evacuation.  “Farrier” (Tom Hardy – Lawless) is a Spitfire pilot whose face is not seen until the movie is ending.  His efforts and those of the other British pilots are one of the factors in the success of the effort to evacuate.

    Character development is limited, dialogue is minimal and that’s just fine.  In this case, the story unfolding before the audience is being told visually and the visuals are amazing.  Having seen the film in 70mm and an “ordinary” theater I can state with confidence that the extra effort and expense required to see Dunkirk is 70mm is worth it.

    [imdb id = tt5013056]

  • ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is a spectacular superhero movie

    Christian saves the day one last time as Batman in 'The Dark Knight Rises'
    Christian saves the day one last time as Batman in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

    “Monday’s child is fair of face, Tuesday’s child is full of grace, Wednesday’s child is full of woe, Thursday’s child has far to go.”

    Welcome to the film version of “Wednesday’s child”.  For the conclusion of the ‘Batman’ trilogy from writer/director Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises is first and foremost, filled with woe.  It’s a stunning achievement in filmmaking, with incredible visuals, excellent action sequences, superb performances from its lead actors and a score that surrounds and envelops the audience, drawing them into the story being told.

    Eight years have passed since the tragic death of District Attorney Harvey Dent, at the hands of Batman or so the people think.  Dent has been lionized and practically canonized by the citizens of Gotham City, with “Harvey Dent Day” being celebrated on the anniversary of his death.  Also being celebrated is a law that was passed in the wake of Dent’s death that gave police commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) the powers he needed to finally clean up the streets of the city.  Eight years later the jails are filled and the people are safe.

    Eight years have passed since there was any sighting of Batman.  Billionaire Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has become a virtual recluse, holed up in one wing of stately Wayne manor and not emerging.  The Dent Day celebration is being held at Wayne Manor and Commissioner Gordon plans to read a speech.  The contents of his speech would have shocked everyone, but at the last moment he chooses not to read it.

    Batman (Christian Bale) and Bane (Tom Hardy) battle in 'The Dark Knight Rises'
    Batman (Christian Bale) and Bane (Tom Hardy) battle in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

    One of the food servers working the event is instructed by Bruce’s faithful manservant, Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) to take a tray of food up to the East wing, unlock the door, go in, put the tray down and then leave, locking the door behind her.  The server is Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) and she has other plans.  Not just to steal some jewels, but to obtain a full set of Bruce Wayne’s fingerprints she plans to exchange in order to obtain a true ‘fresh start’ for her life.  She encounters Bruce walking with difficulty, using a cane and after he catches her with his mother’s pearls, he tries and fails to stop her.

    That’s not the only trouble Bruce Wayne faces.  He has lost most of his wealth and worse yet, someone is scheming to cause him to lose the rest of it and wrest control of Wayne Enterprises from him.  The one person who seems to clearly be on his side is Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), his partner in an energy venture that involves a nuclear device that might solve the city’s energy problems.  But it could also become a horrific weapon in the wrong hands.

    The man truly behind the effort to bring more woe to Wayne’s life is Bane (Tom Hardy), a big, strong, disfigured man.  He wears a metal mask covering much of his face, reminiscent of that worn by Darth Vader.  He has assumed leadership of the League of Shadows.  You remember the League, introduced in “Batman Begins” and led by Ra’s Al Gul (Liam Neeson).  It wanted to destroy Gotham City to cleanse it and that is Bane’s plan as he wants to avenge the death of his mentor.  His plans will force Batman to return.

    This isn’t your typical action film cast.  Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman (reprising his role as Lucius Fox) and Marion Cotillard are all Oscar winners.  Anne Hathaway and Gary Oldman were nominated for Oscars in their careers.  Thus it comes as no surprise that the performances are excellent.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt is great as John Blake, a uniformed cop turned detective that becomes one of the right hand-men to Commissioner Gordon.  In particular, Hathaway and Hardy are brilliant in their roles, she bringing an element of action-adventure star along with wonderful emotional range while he is perfectly cast as the man who will expose the greatest truth of all about Batman.

    Anne Hathaway is Catwoman in 'The Dark Knight Rises'
    Anne Hathaway is Catwoman in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

    You see, The Dark Knight Rises is a superhero movie but all too often people forget that Batman is just a man, not endowed with any superpowers.  He is vulnerable and that vulnerability is exposed when he meets Bane and finds a man who is capable of battling with him on his level and more.

    Nolan and his brother who co-wrote the script, bring social commentary into the story, as Bane attempts to turn the struggle for control of Gotham into a contest between the haves and the have-nots.  Images of the Occupy Movement and those they would label as the “1%” are visible as the struggle intensifies.  Those judged to have committed crimes against the ‘people’ are brought before a judge who is solely interested in pronouncing sentence.  Their guilt is assumed.

    The visuals are awesome and inspiring.  So are the special effects.  The ‘toys’ used by Batman and Selina Kyle’s alter-ego, Catwoman are impressive.  Hans Zimmer’s score is pulse-pounding and set perfectly against the various images it enhances.  If this is indeed the final effort by Christopher Nolan in the Batman universe (you may argue that there is or isn’t a sequel set-up, I’ll leave that to you, but logically any movie that generates as much box office as TDKR automatically puts the notion of “let’s do another” into the minds of its producers) then he went out with a flourish.  One could pick at a few very minor ‘flaws’ where what we are treated to on screen would be done differently in real life, but this isn’t real life.  This is a movie.  A superhero movie.  A spectacular superhero movie.  Enjoy it.