If you missed the introduction to this week’s posts, go here, for part 2, click here, for part 3 go here and for part 4 go here. We continue our look back at the first nine Christopher Nolan films the order of my preference for them to try to get an understanding of what to expect from Tenet. Yesterday we took a look at Nolan’s 2 biggest blockbusters. Today we take a look at what I believe are his two best movies. To me, Dunkirk is very close with the last two in terms of value. For me, The Prestige has always been my favorite of the Nolan movies to watch. AS ALWAYS THERE WILL BE MASSIVE SPOILERS TO THESE FILMS.
Number 2: Dunkirk
The details:
Debut 7/21/17
Main Actors/Actresses: Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branaugh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, and a LARGE ensemble
Best Sneaky Guest: Harry Styles
What is it about: The story is set in the midst of the battle of Dunkirk as British (and other nations as well) soldiers withdrew from France back across the English Channel. The story is broken up into three parts that slowly unite under different timelines. By land, sea and air we see the story unfold in different ways and from different perspectives. A civilian and his son, a pilot, and soldiers who have fought live their different experiences. In the end, as in real life, the majority of the force finds its way back to regroup ahead of the future return to France.
The film starts on the shores of Dunkirk and follows a soldier who is trying to get off the beach, along with thousands of others. The soldier (and soon some companions) make multiple attempts, with several near death incidents, all of which are unsuccessful. Realizing they have no chance to complete the withdrawal on their own, the Royal Navy requisitions civilians from Britain, and the civilians respond with a fleet of boats, sent to carry back wearied troops. This is where we pick up with Mark Rylance and his son (along with a friend) who set out from Britain on their family vessel Moonstone and proceed to locate and rescue troops at Dunkirk. We follow them on their journey across the channel. At this point, we also join a storyline with three pilots (centered by a masked and barely audible Tom Hardy) who are tasked with defending the retreat. Two of his comrades are lost, but one is saved by a ship, the Moonstone.
The soldiers from the beach continue to mount an escape, and eventually find a boat. While escaping in the boat, the Germans fire on the boat, taking one of the companions down with it. They are rescued by another boat, a mineweeper. Meanwhile, the father, son, and friend rescue a group. of sailors who’s boat has been sunk. Upon discovery that they are continuing on to Dunkirk, one of sailors (Cillian Murphy), who is clearly shell shocked, panics and tries to commandeer their vessel. In the chaos, he inadvertently mortally injures the young friend who joined father and son. In one of the most shocking and tender moments of the movie, Murphy approaches Rylance to ask if the boy is OK, unaware of the severity of the injury. Rylance consoles the soldier by telling him the boy is fine, understanding that the man was not himself at that time, despite his own grief and guilt.
Our soldiers on the minesweeper again find themselves in peril as their ship is hit and sinks. Before long, the Moonstone appears and also rescues them, and heads back to Britain with a ship full of troops. At the end of the film we see a montage of captivating moments as the soldiers receive a heroes welcome that stuns them, after they expected to be jeered for their retreat. We see the young boy who was killed unloaded from the boat as a haunted Cillian Murphy looks on and we see Tom Hardy land in France. Out of fuel and out of time, we know he will fall into German hands for his bravery in staying in the skies until he had nothing left to give.
Why does it work: Tension. From the first moments, you start to feel the tension of the situation as bombers begin to pound the beach, a father is fraught with concern as his son and a child joins the rescue mission and the pilots begin a long day (I imagine just being in the air in WW 2 was enough tension on its own). It is not lost on me that part of the reason it is so tense is because it was real. This is the only Nolan movie based on a true story. The soundtrack with its Shepard Tones and ticking stopwatch ratchet up the tension to a level where you do not leave the edge of your seat for the entirety of the movie. There is no real exposition. You see through glimpses, rumors and the looks on faces what you need to know. The action barely slows for seconds of reflection and false calm. You feel the stakes in Cillian Murphy’s performance as a soldier who has lost his nerve in the face of horrors. The three young lads who started on land find their way to freedom on a series of ships, only to find one after the other a death coffin. The tragic scene with Cillian Murphy and Mark Rylance will stay with you long after the filming ends. In the waning moments of the denouement Tom Hardy faces the unseen German forces (you essentially never see them in this movie, creating a tension that was once mastered by Steven Spielberg in Jaws), and the young men return. Harry Style’s character has a brief exchange that has stayed with me, perhaps more than any Nolan moment, when he says “all we did is survive.” A blind man, greeting the returning soldiers replies, “that’s enough.” It is a powerful reminder that there are many times in our lives that we don’t end up the victor. We just have to get through those times.
Weaving the three tales together shows Nolan’s love of messing with time and perceptions of it, as they all unfold at their own rate and space, blending beautifully over the rising action. You feel the tension, terror and pressure they feel. The technical aspects of the film-making, particularly in the aerial battles with the actual planes used in that time, is incredible. I could take up several paragraphs trying to explain the extraordinary lengths they went though to make this movie have practical effects, realistic scenes and time appropriate sets. The cinematography is virtually flawless with shot after shot that is stunning in its angles, view, and beauty. It was the best war movie I had ever seen until 1917 came out this year. Eventually 1917 will get it’s own post. If you have seen this, but not 1917, leave this article, go watch 1917, and come back. This will still be here.
What are its shortcomings:
The child acting is a bit wooden, which is something of a Nolan staple. To be fair, quality child acting is very difficult to find, which is what makes a show like Stranger Things such a treasure. The loudness and intensity of the action hits harder and more consistently than any other Nolan film, making it an arduous experience in theaters. I remember almost prying myself out of the chair afterward. This movie is masterpiece in tension and discomfort. The usual Nolan time shifting in the film can lead to jarring changes in tone and experience for the viewer. The three stories are vastly different, with the air story one that is more voyeuristic, the land portion an unending pounding of intensity, and the sea one a very slow moving arc with a sudden shift. There is virtually no character development in this movie. This movie hits you hard and fast. The characters are essentially props in the story. This is fine, given the stunning show, but if you enjoy character development, and I do, then this is a shortcoming here.
What would I have done differently if I were as smart as Christopher Nolan: I would stop letting Tom Hardy muffle his voice. His insistence on doing so is again an annoyance here, as it is in Dark Knight Rises. Here it is merely a mild annoyance, but with the incredible sound editing and the constant rush of noise and distraction, more of what he says is lost than needs to be. I blame this mostly on Tom Hardy, because it follows him around everywhere. Still, Nolan has the ability to sound edit and keeps making these curious choices with voice options (like Batman, Bane, and here Farrier).
Best Scene
Number 1: The Prestige
The details:
Debut 10/20/06
Main actors/actresses: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Rebecca Hall and Scarlett Johansson
Best sneaky guest: David Bowie
What is it about?
The Prestige follows the lives of two elite magicians as they seek to outwit, outplay and outlast the other in a real life game of survivor. Brilliantly acted by Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, both slowly descend into a game of mutually assured destruction. The movie starts out with both working for a Magician together, but under the tutelage of Michael Caine’s character. Bale and Jackman work together on a trick with Jackman’s wife. Borden ties her hands and she is dropped into a water tank to escape. However, something goes wrong and she drowns. Jackman confronts Bale, who denies knowing whether he tied the correct knot. Enraged, Jackman blames Bale’s character and sets out on his own, as does Bale. They quickly become bitter rivals. After Bale performs a new trick that stumps Jackman, Jackman steals it with his own twist and superior showmanship, but is quickly dissatisfied. He sends a spy over to Bale’s camp, played by Scarlet Johannson. She falls in love with Bale and becomes his mistress (his wife played by the excellent Rebecca Hall), and ruins Jackman’s new copycat trick. She tries to ingratiate herself back into Jackman’s favor by providing his diary to him. He manages to decode one word. Tesla.
Jackman sets off to see Nikola Tesla, played to mercurial perfection by David Bowie. Tesla is befuddled by his presence, but when he hears what Jackman wants, he sets out to provide it. By the end of his time, he receives his prize, a matter transporter (or something). It’s hard to explain how it works, so they don’t bother, but it creates and exact replica of Jackman each time it is used, but in a separate location 50 or so yards away. Jackman sets up a trick using this device. In the meantime, Bale’s wife, overcome by confusion, grief and regret, grows tired of his ever changing personality and kills herself. Left alone with their daughter and his grief, Bale moves forward. Astonished by Jackman’s new trick and confused over how it works, Bale goes below stage to spy on the trick. He discovers a water tank under the stage, where Jackman suddenly drops in. He drowns in the water tank as a horrified Bale looks on. Bale is quickly arrested (as no second Jackman appeared), and assumed to be responsible for Jackman’s death. After trial, he is sentenced to death. In a massive reveal we discover Jackman to still be alive (in disguise) and has been made ward over Bale’s child. An enraged Bale can do nothing, and is executed. Michael Caine discovers all of this and is horrified by Jackman’s plan. We see him meet with Jackman surrounded by water tanks, each filled by a deceased version of Jackman. He realizes there is little he can do to stop it at this point and leaves. In an extremely shocking second reveal, a man walks up to Jackman, shoots and kills him. It turns out to be Bale, and we discover that the magician we thought was Bale, were actually twins, both appearing as him in alternating days (we see flashbacks of how, and we realizes why his personality seems so unsettled and why he did not know which knot he tied). Bale takes back his brother’s daughter with Caine’s help, and the movie ends.
Why does it work?
The story is the real star of the movie. While the acting is superb from all the parties (including Bowie as a very unsurprisingly quirky Nikola Tesla), the story’s shifts, surprises and build up dominate the whole of the film’s runtime. The reason I have this movie at the top of the list is that, more than any other Nolan film, the story is the heart and the character’s develop in shocking and revealing ways. While some of his films are weighed down somewhat by exposition (Inception) and some are so loose that they are difficult to follow for anyone (Memento) and some are more focused on action and adventure (the Batman films/Dunkirk), this one requires you to pay attention and rewards you for it. It avoids future problems with sound (the soundtrack to Interstellar, the various voices of Tom Hardy and Batman). It also allows for extensive character work for multiple characters that many of his other films don’t. The ability of Nolan to capture the time and space of this film is outstanding, with incredible costume and set work. Nolan’s love of practical effects shines as the film looks very real and magic performances are wonderful.
All of his films are entertaining, but this combines, to me, all of his best qualities. He shows the character development we see in Insomnia. He shows the ability to perfectly recreate an era that we see in Dunkirk. We see incredible set pieces with magic and showmanship like we see in Inception or the Dark Knight. We see the visionary cinematography that is present in all his works. We see the very best actors providing some of their very best work. From the rage fueled showmanship of Jackman, to the understated genius of Bale (as he shifts very subtly back and forth between two identical people), to character actors like Caine, Hall, Johansson, Bowie and more they all nail their parts. We see a quality soundtrack, sadly not Zimmer, but still great merged with the artistry. We see male and female actors and actresses shine in their roles. It has, in my opinion, the best twist. While the twist of Memento was great, it was not as earned as this one was here, because we are following so closely, but still can’t see it. We want to be fooled. While I believe Tenet will be more Inception than Prestige, I am hopeful that he will return to this type of story again.
What are its shortcomings?
There is very little I don’t enjoy about the film. The script is so neatly wrapped up by the end that every piece and scene feels as if it has meaning. There are no wasted moments. The biggest criticism I would levy in this film is the rather limited approach to the women in the story. We have talked about this several times, but it keeps being true. Only Rebecca Hall is given any real time to shine, and it is mostly to serve as a mirror to the Bale madness. Scarlett Johansson is basically a prop used to move the story forward. Piper Perabo is killed almost instantly. It’s not a huge surprise that two brothers prefer writing story-lines for men. Here we see his killing off of female characters at it’s worst as he kills both character’s wives, which drives both of them in their own way. Female characters can be more than props and story points. I am very hopeful that this will change in time (it seems to be improving). I hope he will bring on a female voice to allow his stories to be more multi-dimensional.
What would I do differently if I were as smart as Christopher Nolan?
I would have spent more time on Rebecca Hall who shines in her part opposite Bale. Watching her break down as she is being gas-lighted is heartbreaking and is really the emotional core of the movie. Neither Bales nor Jackman feel entitled to full restitution by movies end, and neither truly gets it. Both experience a journey where each is responsible for their own burn out. Rebecca Hall’s character deserved a better arc as more than just another small piece of the puzzle and the co-author of the main stakes (Bale’s daughter). Rebecca Hall’s turn here is the best female acting performance of his movies (even though it is certainly not the best part). I wish we had gotten more.
Best scene:
Great series...... Enjoyed every post! Thanks...Stay safe.