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A Brief History of Wartime
"Dunkirk" reviewed following two screenings in IMAX 7OMM |
Read more at in70mm.com The 70mm Newsletter
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Written by: Mark
Lyndon. Photographed by:
Thomas Hauerslev |
Date:
01.08.2017 |
The
BFI IMAX entrance near Waterloo station on the South Bank in London. Click
to see enlargement
Oftentimes, the greatest works of art have
been greeted with incomprehension, misunderstanding and downright hostility.
Revolutionary, groundbreaking and defiant of convention; Beethoven's Third
Symphony, Picasso's Guernica and Wagner's Total Theatre all suffered
opprobrium in their time. With Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk", we have
a great work of art provoking negativity in some quarters, in our time.
"A film is - or should be - more like music than like fiction. It should
be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the
emotion, the meaning, all that comes later."
Thus spake Stanley
Kubrick.
Nolan applies this dictum by ditching conventional plot and narrative
structure in favour of something far more complex and subtle. Dialogue as in
Kubrick's "2001" is
used very sparingly. Underpinning the frantic timing, suspense and action of
"Dunkirk" is a deeply philosophical meditation on the nature of time
itself and how it is perceived. Time, is the great theme and preoccupation
of Nolan's film works, principally "Inception",
"Interstellar" and
now "Dunkirk".
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More in 70mm reading:
Anamorphic Weekend in London
“Dunkirk”: A personal first impression
"Dunkirk" Production
Notes
Internet link:
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The
BFI IMAX cinema on the South Bank in London. Click to see enlargement
The three great strands of Nolan's "Dunkirk" are Land, Sea and Air,
each endowed with its own specific time zone. For Land it is a week, for Sea
a day and for Air an hour. These zones interact, intercut and intersect in a
truly dazzling and shattering way, making enormous demands of the audience.
Kubrick noted that:
"The idea that a movie should be seen only once is an extension of our
traditional conception of film as entertainment rather than art"
For Dunkirk, repeated viewings are essential. Moreover, Dunkirk is ideally
experienced on the giant IMAX screen in 70mm, a truly mighty canvas.
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The
BFI IMAX projection room with it's three IMAX projectors, and one Century
70mm projector. Click to see enlargement
Hoyte van Hoytema whose prowess as a
cinematographer, is now surely in the league of such giants as Gregg Toland,
Jack Cardiff, Sven
Nykvist and Vittorio Storaro, has achieved miracles using the bulky
IMAX cameras in ways
undreamt of before. The edgy handheld look pioneered by Kubrick and
Pontecorvo using 35mm cameras is used to great effect in IMAX in the opening
scene, depicting Alex, the universal soldier and sole survivor of a
firefight, just making it through the sandbagged perimeter held by French
troops. The imagery throughout is hauntingly beautiful, amongst the very
best ever captured on film, yes film, not glorified television. The young
cast give outstanding performances in concert with masters of the art such
as Kenneth Brannagh, Mark Rylance and James D'Arcy.
"All art constantly aspires to the condition of music." Walter
Horacio Pater
The Hans Zimmer score is far more than a conventional film score in that it
is indivisible from a soundscape designed to ratchet up tension and suspense
to an almost unbearable pitch. His use of Nimrod from Elgar's Enigma
variations as a leitmotif is a master stroke. A German composer quotes an
English composer paying heartfelt tribute in mourning the death a close
friend, a German named Jäger. A Jäger is a hunter, as in Nimrod and fighter
pilot. The air combat sequences are simply the best ever screened.
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Two
7OMM pilgrims, Mark
Lyndon & Thomas Hauerslev, authors of this text. Selfie reflected anamorphically on Leicester Sq.
The sheer volume of the soundtrack has
attracted some criticism. For many of those who were there in 1940, the
abiding memory of Dunkirk was the sheer, deafening noise. Like Kubrick
before him, Nolan has faced myopic accusations of being cold and unfeeling,
lacking in compassion. It is worth taking special note of comments made by
Ken Sturdy, a 97 year old veteran of Dunkirk, who was moved to tears by the
film:
"It didn't have a lot of dialogue. It didn't need any of the dialogue
because it told the story visually and it was so real. I never thought I
would see that again. It was just like I was there again."
"Don't just go to the movie for entertainment," he added. "Think
about it. And when you become adults, keep thinking."
Amongst its many glories and wonders, "Dunkirk" features one of the
most subtly poignant and ironic narratives in any medium. This is conveyed
with a minimum of emotion and fuss in which a leading character achieves a
personal ambition, at a terrible price.
Indeed "Dunkirk" is one of the most ambitious and beautiful films
ever made.
The philosopher Isaiah Berlin once declared Mozart to be the greatest artist
since the renaissance, working in any medium. There will be no more works
from Mozart, but there will surely be more from Christopher Nolan.
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