As Disney is set to become an even bigger behemoth with the acquisition of Fox, many members of the press are wary about what this might mean in terms of access. It was only a few months ago when Disney banned the L.A. Times from covering their films, a measure of retaliation against what they said was an unfair piece about their theme parks. Backlash was fierce, and in matter of days, the ban was lifted against the paper.
However, with Disney now the size of two major studios, and having already shown a reflex for silencing voices they don’t like, it’s understandable why many are worried how they might act with more power. Watching from the sidelines, Christopher Nolan saw it unfold, but was awed by those who banded together in support of the paper.
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“That’s outstanding. And that’s the thing. It’s become very fashionable in the last couple of decades to forget what good government can do, what good union organizing can do,” he told The L.A. Times. “The idea that benevolent capitalists will just take care of us and the people on top will magically distribute wealth and happiness and security to us little people … no. It’s time we wised up. Strength comes from community in all things. ‘Dunkirk‘ is one of those stories.”
Of course, the conversation did pivot back to his Oscar contending picture, which notably is the leanest of his career. With a minimum of dialogue and a premium on experience, Nolan’s picture is quite a departure from this past work. However, when it comes to criticism that his previous pictures had too much exposition, he does offer a defence.
“I removed a lot of my safety nets [on ‘Dunkirk’], particularly in the screenwriting area where I’d become, I think, fairly proficient in the use of dialogue to express back story and character. And when I wrote this screenplay, I decided to remove all that and look at it in a different way,” Nolan said.
“I went from one extreme to the other,” he added. “I think when people are critical of the amount of exposition that I’ve engaged in in my other films, it’s probably important that they take into account the complexity of the films as well. In some of those films, there’s a lot I’m trying to get across narratively. Exposition is very tough. It’s artifice. It’s theatricality. And so for me, it wasn’t about trying to get rid of exposition — Kenneth Branagh’s character is given a lot — but about removing the things that I know to be artificial and see what happens.”
It’s a good explanation, and it’s nice to hear the filmmaker be candid about how he sees the storytelling in his films.
As for “Dunkirk,” it’s one of three movies this year about that period in history. “Their Finest” and “Darkest Hour” also brush with era, but when it comes to the latter — which also has plenty of Oscar talk around it — Nolan admits he hasn’t seen it, mostly because he’s a bit Dunkirk-ed out. But he did make time for “Blade Runner 2049.”
“It was a real pleasure. I love [director] Denis [Villeneuve]. He bravely took on what he referred to as a suicide mission, following such a huge film that I was such a fan of. I thought he did a great job. Those guys really went for it. You have to admire that,” Nolan enthused.
Pretty cool stuff, and the full interview is worth the read, especially since this might be the last we hear from Nolan for a while, as he will eventually return to his creative castle and conjure his next movie.
