Christopher Nolan is one of the most popular directors today. His classic masterpieces include "Batman: The Dark Knight" (2008), "Inception" (2010) and "Interstellar" (2013). His younger brother Jonathan Nolan is also a well-known screenwriter, and the scripts for "Batman: The Dark Knight" and "Interstellar" were co-written by him and his younger brother Jonathan Nolan. In addition to movies, Jonathan Nolan also has classic works in American dramas such as "Suspect Pursuing the Murder" and "Western World".
The script of "Dunkirk" was completed by Christopher Nolan alone. This is the third film he completed alone. The first two were "Follow" (1998) and "Inception" (2010).
2. "Dunkirk" is based on real historical events.
Every year Hollywood will shoot World War II movies, but the Dunkirk retreat code-named "Engine Project" is a relatively unpopular subject.
In essence, this is not a victory, but an embarrassing retreat.
In May 1940, the Germans bypassed the heavily deployed Maginot Line of Anglo-French allied forces, crossed the river from Sedan and entered France, heading towards the English Channel, and encircled nearly 400,000 Anglo-French allied forces in a small area in northern France, leaving only Tun. Kirk, a small port with only 10,000 inhabitants, can be used as a sea retreat. Their only way to survive is Dunkirk and its nearby 40 kilometers of coastline. However, due to heavy German bombing, the docks and piers have been blown up, and most of the city has been razed to the ground. The only place that can berth large ships is a breakwater that is less than 1,200 meters long, beaten up with wooden planks.
Compared with large ships with large draughts and heavy targets, small ships can easily approach the beach, and it is much more convenient to pick up soldiers. So the British government decided to recruit civilian ships from the people to go to Dunkirk to rescue the soldiers trapped on the beach. Their initial goal was only to evacuate 30,000, but it took nine days to successfully rescue more than 300,000 soldiers (the British army exceeded 200,000, the French army was close to 100,000, and the Belgian army was about 30,000).
If these 300,000 soldiers cannot be withdrawn to Britain, then the entire Europe may fall into the hands of fascists. Although the Dunkirk retreat was an escape under failure, it preserved the vitality for the Allied forces to counterattack in the future. As the then Prime Minister Churchill said in the parliament: "We frustrated Germany's attempt to eliminate the expeditionary force, and this retreat will breed victory!"
3. Although the theme of "Dunkirk" is war, it is not a typical war movie.
There is no German character in the whole film, no Churchill or Hitler, no strategic or tactical deployment and game, or even bloody and violent scenes. The standard Hollywood formula for heroes to defeat the enemy triumphantly is discarded; the touching patriotism, courage, and sacrifice that can usually earn a lot of tears appear in an extremely restrained manner.
What Nolan intends to show is not the contest between justice and evil, nor the ever-changing situation on the battlefield and the deployment of response strategies, but the tension of young and inferior soldiers struggling to survive in a war with asymmetric information. Although the theme is war, "Dunkirk" is actually closer to a suspense film. Soldiers will be killed by shells at any time or sink to the bottom of the sea with the ship, facing new death threats every minute and every second. For these soldiers who face death and their lives are hanging by a thread, survival is victory.
4. "Dunkirk" uses three narrative lines: land, sea and air
The story of the film is told from three perspectives: land (on the beach), sea (rescue ship) and sky (in a fighter jet).
One week on land, one day on the sea, and one hour on the sky.
The three timelines are intertwined-soldiers on land struggled to survive for a long week, civilians in the sea responded to the call and drove civilian ships to take them home in one day, and the sky was dealing with German bombers. British fighter pilots can only carry one hour of fuel. A linear and simple rescue story with a known ending, under the interaction of the timelines of different scales, appears extremely suspenseful and urgent. Through the perspectives of different people in the three time and space of land, sea, and space, movie viewers seem to experience their highly oppressive and anxious psychology immersively.
5. "Dunkirk" has almost no lines, close to a silent film
There are almost no lines in the film. Nolan used many silent films to make this film.
The film focuses on telling the story through the perspective of the protagonist, British soldier Tommy. The background stories of the main characters are almost zero, even without their full names. There is also little linguistic communication between the various roles. The plot advancement is mostly realized in the form of visual rather than dialogue. This also highlights the depressive and urgent atmosphere that the film is trying to create.
6. "Dunkirk" has enabled many new performers
In addition to the well-known big-name actors such as Tom Hardy and Hillian Murphy, Nolan hired a large number of newcomers, including Finn Whitehead, who played the protagonist Tommy.
Historically, the British soldiers who participated in the Dunkirk retreat were extremely young and junior. In order to respect historical facts, Nolan chose many young British actors instead of American actors to participate. He also boldly chose Harry Styles, who was once a member of the popular boy group One Direction, to play one of the British soldiers.
7. 75% of the filming of "Dunkirk" was done by IMAX film
Nolan still insisted on using film to shoot "Dunkirk." He used a combination of 70mm IMAX film and ultra-widescreen 65mm film to complete 75% of the film. It is actually quite difficult to use an IMAX camera to shoot conversations, because this camera is very noisy when used, but there is almost no conversation in this film, so Nolan can use IMAX cameras to shoot as much as possible.
Nolan believed that when the audience watched the film, they would feel as if they were on the battlefield and breathing with the soldiers.
8. "Dunkirk" was inspired 20 years ago
Twenty years ago, Nolan was deeply fascinated by the Dunkirk retreat, hoping to make a movie on this subject. He and his wife even hired a boat to cross the English Channel and retake the retreat route that year. But at that time, he had little experience, and he had no confidence to shoot such a grand subject.
After a series of great successes, Nolan finally decided to come up with the plan he had been brewing for 20 years and set about shooting.
9. "Dunkirk" try to avoid the use of computer synthesis technology
Nolan has never caught a cold with computer synthesis technology. In order to make the film look as realistic as possible, he used destroyers and Spitfire fighters from World War II to shoot. More than 1,500 group performers participated in the retreat of more than 300,000 people.
10. "Dunkirk" may help Nolan win the first Oscar
As a director with high box office and word of mouth, Nolan is loved by fans all over the world, but he has yet to get a golden figure.
"Dunkirk" is in line with the past judging standards of the Oscars in terms of the subject matter and the humanistic concept. Although the film is smooth throughout and there is no bursting "Oscar moment", this restrained and anti-traditional method of expression may be favored by the judges. Nolan is likely to get his first statuette based on this film!
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