Nolan, 46, has built a career making smart films that are also blockbusters. His 10th feature, Dunkirk, is the British-American director’s most ambitious yet. He spoke to TIME about how and why he made this film now
Over the past decade, you’ve made movies that take place in the DC Comics universe, within the human subconscious and out in space. Why come back to earth, to history?
Dunkirk is one of the great untold stories in modern cinema. Having made a trip on a small boat across the Channel about 25 years ago, the roughness of the water, the sheer physical challenge of making that crossing—but without anyone dropping bombs, without traveling into a war zone—cemented in my mind an extraordinarily high level of admiration for the people who in 1940 just got on those little boats and came over to help the soldiers.
Growing up in Britain, what was your perception of the events at Dunkirk?
In Britain, you grow up with this story. It’s really part of the national DNA. It’s in your bones as a British person. You receive the story first in its more mythic, somewhat oversimplified terms. The more you find out about the reality of the evacuation, the more you find out about the messy historical truth of the thing.
Do you think there’s a particular reason why the story hasn’t been told in film?
Yes, I do. What I realize in retrospect is this is a British film—it has no Americans in it—but it needs the Hollywood studio machine to be able to make something technically on the scale that’s necessary to do this story justice. I’ve always seen Dunkirk as a universal story, something that anybody could relate to. But the reason why it hasn’t been made before is it requires such massive resources.
How did you approach research?
Bu hikaye Time dergisinin July 31,2017 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Time dergisinin July 31,2017 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Exhibition showcases ancient splendor
A captivating exhibition at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco offers a clue to the vibrant Bronze Age cultures that flourished along the Yangtze River more than 2,000 years ago.
Flights of kites
An ancient folk craft tradition floats across time and still soars to new heights in modern times
What does a biopic owe its subject?
AMY WINEHOUSE WROTE SONGS THAT CUT TO THE CORE of heartbreak and sang them in a voice as supple and sturdy as raw silk.
On the road again with Mad Max's mastermind
GEORGE MILLER HAS SPENT MORE THAN 40 YEARS swerving in and out of the post apocalyptic world of Mad Max.
TV'S ENDLESS HOLOCAUST
A surge of World War II dramas fails to connect with the present
your toxic life
AN INDEPENDENT LAB HAS MADE A BUSINESS OF EXPOSING WHAT’S REALLY INSIDE EVERYDAY PRODUCTS
NEXT GENERATION LEADERS
11 trailblazers who are challenging the status quo, leading with empathy, and forging solutions for a brighter future
Uranium dreams
The promise of clean nuclear power brings the West to Mongolia
Why the Westminster Dog Show made me appreciate mutts
I SPENT THREE YEARS AMONG DOGS WITH BLOODLINES like British royalty.
CO₂ Leadership Brief
ON MAY 1, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR Jerome Powell offered a two-part message to eager interest- rate watchers.