Dunkirk

You've not seen a fly until you've seen it in IMAX. Honestly, about six feet wide it was. All over the gaff, for a good forty minutes. Tom Hardy valiantly tried to gun him down from the cockpit of his Spitfire at one point, but it was to no avail. Such was my experience of Dunkirk, in stunning 15/70. Half of it ruined by a fucking bluebottle.

But I do digress. Despite the wing'd distraction, Nolan's latest (and shortest since his indie debut, Following) convinces as a technical marvel, a giant-sized paean to the despair and bravery of 400,000 men trapped on a beach in France, with hope of rescue fading as each ticking second passes (something Hans Zimmer's propulsive score acknowledges with an incessant urgency, even if it all goes a bit Chariots of Fire towards the end). With absolutely zero character development, Nolan's desire was to construct a film made up entirely of a third act climax, spread over the entire running time. And it almost works.

Focusing on the three perspectives of land, air and sea, it plays with time in a way many have compared to Inception (air = one hour; land = one day; sea = one week). But unlike Inception, it's not necessarily required to know exactly what's going on when; the timelines gel in a masterstroke of editing complexity that may very well be analysed by film scholars and cinephiles alike. Scenes play out from various viewpoints at completely different junctures, depending on where the three timelines are up to. It can feel somewhat haphazard on first viewing, but second time round it reveals itself as a wholly cohesive triumph.

Not unlike Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity, Dunkirk feels almost like an extended, immersive theme park ride - a visceral experience driven by thunderous audio and overwhelming visuals from start to finish. In this regard, despite quality performances from all cast members (including Nolan's good luck charm Michael Caine - answers on a postcard if you can spot him), the film takes on a sort of monolithic, impenetrable nature; at once throwing you head-first into the firing line, but at the same time leaving you slightly detached from it all.

Its unique ambition in being often solely driven by tension rather than character is no doubt part of the reason one feels a lack of investment in any of the main players. That said, by the time he's flying sans-fuel over the beach front, picking off Jerries and pulling back his cockpit to feel the wind in his face, I was definitely not detached from Tom Hardy. What an absolute man. I would gladly have his babies any time that suits.

A second viewing definitely helps with Dunkirk, such is the onslaught of sound and fury it brings to the table. But Nolan's best film, as some critics are hailing it? Not quite. When the credits of The Dark Knight hit the screen back in 2008, the grin across my face was a mile wide. While Dunkirk hits many of the same Nolan-flavoured notes, its deliberate lack of anything approaching conventional storytelling tropes cannot be ignored. A colleague of mine claimed it was experimental in nature, and he's not far wrong.

But then it's unfair to compare the two, Nolan stating he wished to challenge himself by doing something completely out of the confines of genre filmmaking he's become known for. Much as I love Memento, The Prestige, Interstellar et al., Dunkirk at least shows Nolan wants to stay (vaguely) fresh, even if his films - not unlike Spielberg or Hitchcock - have a distinct Nolan-esque vibe that cannot be shaken. But then not unlike his aforementioned peers, he's a crowd-pleaser. And in an age of endless franchises with studios afraid to gamble on anything approaching original - let alone borderline experimental - that's nothing to be sniffed at. I'd choose his latest over the next Transformers film any day of the week. Giant flies and all.

ADDENDUM: I missed the first ten minutes of my second viewing due to the 2.20:1 aspect ratio being incorrectly projected. I seriously cannot catch a break with this film. Film something in NormalVision next time, Nolan. Cheers.