Dunkirk- Nolan time

Dunkirk, directed by the legendary Christopher Nolan, one of the most skilled and ambitious directors of all time is his 10th feature film. When he first announced that he'll be directing a war film, not a lot of us were thrilled. The best thing about Christopher Nolan is that the subject of every single movie of his is so unique. Even if you try to compare his movies you really can't come to a conclusion of which is better because they're all so different. But war movies aren't hard to find. Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan is still a masterpiece and war is a genre dealt by a lot of talented directors. So knowing that Nolan would direct a war movie kind of let me down because I thought Chris would stick to sci-fi and keep blowing our minds.

The trailer had to convince me that Nolan would still be able to pull a stunner among the wide range of war movies. The trailer did a great job of convincing me that Nolan might even steal the top spot among other directors and could even end up beating Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan and Mel Gibson's Hacksaw ridge. It had this eery tone throughout. It felt like watching a psychological thriller but with extremely vibrant visuals, beautiful colour, and extraordinary music.

Here's what is going to differentiate this from the other war movies. The movies we know and loved always revolved around the life of an individual and how he/she managed to be a hero. But Dunkirk feels like teamwork. Although wars are won by armies, war movies feel like they're being won because of the efforts of a single person and how their contributions turn the tables. The trailer alone is enough to convince us that there is no single protagonist here. This aspect which was covered in the trailer was more than enough to end my fears about this movie ending up as another stereotype.

About the story, its something I haven't read about and prefer not to because there is no better storyteller than Nolan himself. But what I got was that 'home is coming for them'. A normal sailor has somehow got to know that his men are in trouble so he decides to do something about it. He's not the navy so he isn't prepared for the journey ahead but he has the heart to help his men. Whether or not his will to help his men is enough to save them or not is probably the main storyline. He's probably going to get more help from his home or inspire more people to join him in the journey. But its Nolan so my speculations and theories could end up being garbage.

Once again we have a great cast, Tom Hardy and Cilian Murphy two actors who have previously worked with Nolan and worked together in Inception. Mark Rylance is now joining the cast, Nolan definitely has an eye for Oscar winners, he worked with Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Matthew McConaughey, now Mark will join the club of 'Nolanites'. I was a huge fan of Mark's performance in Bridge of spies and its exciting to see such a veteran work with Chris. We also have One Direction star Harry Styles join the cast. The highlight for me was to finally see someone I haven't seen in 15 years, Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. It took me a moment to recognise who he was but damn he hasn't aged a day. Welcome back Kenneth Branagh. He did star in other films like the Valkyrie but here, it looks like he has a lot of screentime. Looks like he's finally back to his senses from that misfired memory charm in the chamber of secrets.

I've saved the best for the last, Hans Zimmer. One of the biggest reasons behind Nolan's success is Zimmer's magical score. I think we got a tease of that in the trailer as well. Most of the Nolan trailers have Zimmer composing instead of borrowing a famous song or a theme. The track was just perfect. Zimmer is once again going to blow our minds. I don't care if he wins an Oscar for it or not, that soundtrack is going into my playlist as soon as its released. The constant clock ticking kind of reminds me of John William's 'Forward to time past' from Harry Potter and the Prisoner Of Azkaban.

Dunkirk hits theatres on July 21st and I can't wait. It's probably the only movie I'd choose over Justice League this year because one of the contributing factors for me turning into a DC fan was Christopher Nolan.

P.S. The only disappointment for me is that Jonathan won't be writing this. Other than that, it looks perfect.