When studio executives sleep at night, they dream of Christopher Nolan movies.
Now theresDunkirk(out Friday), a World War II story not well-known in the States.
A 50-mile swath of water, the English Channel, separated them from home and survival.
Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon/Warner Bros.
The film re-creates that white-knuckle tension in breathtaking detail.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Among directors making studio films, you have a rare level of freedom.
When you look at what the event actually is, theres no small version of the film.
That requires the backing of a major studio.
That requires the American film industry.
There are no Americans in the film.
Its about a defeat.
Yes, its a victory within a defeat, but its a defeat.
The evacuation of Dunkirk is something that has fascinated you for years.
A friend of ours had a small sailboat, and we did the crossing from England to Dunkirk.
It was extremely arduous.
It took way longer than we thought.
The weather was terrible.
The Channel was very rough.
That stuck with me as admiration for the people who participated in the civilian component of the evacuation.
Its such a huge event.
You also use a structure Ive never seen on film.
The audience begins to understand fairly early on that [those three stories] are going to meet.
The anticipation of that becomes part of the tension of the story.
Even the sound the actual audio ofDunkirkis unlike your other movies.
Theres much less dialogue.
How different did this script look?It was about half the length.
It was a 76-page script, a very short script.
I really wanted to be telling the story through images, first and foremost.
For me, this film was always going to play like the third act of a bigger film.
This is your first feature sinceInterstellar, which was dialogue-heavy.
You find things in a film that you want to keep expanding on.
I wanted to build on that for this film.
It seems like you get to make whatever you want.
What are your major creative constraints now?
WithDunkirk, youre trying to re-create a historical reality that doesnt exist anymore.
I am the audience, and I go to see lots of movies.
Were trying to do that in a different and hopefully adventurous way.
We take a stab at not allow the audience to feel too familiar with what the film is.
[Though] I did withLa La Land; I went back to see that a couple of times.
Thats just a magical experience.
Why did you seeLa La Landthree times?Why did I go back?
Dunkirkis your first story to focus on really young men.
Did that feel new?It felt very new.
Suddenly, you feel that youre in a much more paternal situation.
Did you make a differentDunkirkthan you would have 10 years ago?
Youre the father of three boys under 18 now.Oh, very different.
I would have viewed them as young men.
Why?Were not trying to oversell Harry in the movie for the specific reason that its an ensemble.
I think what he does is extremely subtle because its very real.
[His performance] almost risks being missed because of what its actually doing.
And you wallow in them.
Thats a lot of fun.
Im completely addicted to it.
