Usually at this point in the summer, as a movie-goer, we are sitting waist deep in popcorn on a rollercoaster of annual blockbusters, with the hope that at least one will actually be worth the trip to the cinema.
It was with some surprise when it was announced last year that the new film from Christopher Nolan, director of of the Dark Knight trilogy of Batman movies, would also be taking its place amidst the funderland of summer cinema. As its subject, the collossal military failure of the British expeditionary force at the hands of advancing Nazis in France during the summer of 1940, which resulted in almost four hundred thousand men retreating to Dunkirk and in need of evacuation. Hardly a fun ride.
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The resulting film is one of the most tense, nerve wracking and ultimately emotional experiences I've had at the cinema in a long time - because I was standing in the projection booth! For the first time in decades, Hollywood has released a first-run movie widely, not just on digital, IMAX and 35mm celluloid, but on large format 70mm film. For the last of us movie projectionists, its a joy to see a brand new print like this go through a projector. As far as photographic use of the format goes, Tarantino's Hateful Eight was a claustrophobic dry run for Dunkirk's vivid palette of whites and blues, its wide-open infinite beaches and endless seas.
Wars are not won by evacuations, and the art of film is not experienced on the couch. If you only go to the pictures once a year, this is your moment.
The next day, when I sat down in the screen to watch the film proper, from the opening volley of piercing gunshots to the final ticking summation of Hans Zimmer's soundscape of a score, I heard and witnessed (and this picture is as much about the sound as the images) not popcorn war porn, but nothing less than pure cinema. A tale of survival on land (newcomer Fionn Whitehead), sea (Oscar winner Mark Rylance) and in the air (Spitfire pilot Tom Hardy) with minimal dialogue and a never ending sense of tension and fear.
Growing up on World War 2 movies, I came to this film with a boy's sense of spectacle. And boy I did get that, in ways I hadn't seen in the longest time. The entire film is essentially one single action sequence, free of green screen FX or computer-generated interference. This, ironically, produces a virtual reality physicality of space, an immersive experience in which characters live or die on actual boats and actual planes. Thrilling? Absolutely. But still, unexpectedly, I left teary-eyed and wondering what happened to these people following their traumatic experience and through the grim years that followed.
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With a cast that also includes Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy and yes, Harry Styles, Dunkirk was shot on 70mm film and IMAX cameras - as opposed to being converted to the format in post-production - and must be experienced on the biggest screen possible. Wars are not won by evacuations, and the art of film is not experienced on the couch. If you only go to the pictures once a year, this is your moment.
Dunkirk opens in cinemas on Friday, July 21 - you can see the film exclusively in 70mm at the Irish Film Institute, Dublin, and exclusively in IMAX at Parnell Cinemas, Dublin.
