The masterful manipulation of time in Christopher Nolan’s blistering blockbuster “Dunkirk,” the temporal cross-cutting and tension it brings is awe-inspiring from a cinematic perspective. “Dunkirk” takes place at three locations for completely different spans of time: the ‘mole’ (beach) for one week, the sea for one day and air for one hour. Nolan found a way to illustrate all three events happening all with respect to each other, finally converging in the film’s climax. While seemingly impossible, Nolan’s precision and meticulous attention to detail creating symmetry between all three elements allowing for a suspenseful, captivating and engrossing experience for the audience.
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This is somewhat familiar territory for Nolan, having done three films that consist of the manipulation of our perception of time – “Memento,” “Interstellar” and “Inception.” Although it’s a familiar element in his filmography, each film presents the concept in new and intriguing ways. With “Dunkirk” Nolan went to great lengths to incorporate sound into the structure of the narrative, along with the ticking of Nolan’s own watch incorporated as part of the score. The audience is spellbound, fully engaged in this race against time, wondering if the young soldier will ever make it home.
And so the narrator in this new video essay also mentions another unique element concerning the antagonist in the film. While it’s known that the Germans were the enemy during World War II, the villains in the film remain faceless. Referred to only a handful of times, this element in the script subtly leads the audience to focus on the time element, rather than a person or individual. The race against the clock is the real adversary in “Dunkirk,” acting as the catalyst which propels the story forward. What’s even more enthralling was the fact that one character shifts effortlessly from one location and timeline to another during the film. Christopher Nolan masterful, transportive control means he takes the audience exactly where he wants and once again, altering and upending your perception of the drama’s timeline and how it all fits together. Nolan suspends the audience in time: all of us were on those sinking boats, flying those war planes and waiting on the beach for rescue… or death.
For more on Christopher Nolan’s ability to bend the concept of linear drama with a little help from the incomparable Hans Zimmer, check out the intriguing video essay below.