Christopher Nolan Explains The Complicated Structure of Dunkirk

In most of Christopher Nolan's films, the filmmaker usually takes an unconventional angle when it comes to approaching his stories. Films like Memento, Prestige, Inception, and Interstellar have unique story structures that we love. So it's not surprising that Nolan is bringing a similar approach in his first war film, Dunkirk, which will be released in theaters this summer.

During an interview with a French magazine called Premiere (via The Playlist), Nolan discussed Dunkirk's "complicated structure". You can read the English translation below:

"The film is told from three points of view. The air (planes), the land (on the beach) and the sea (the evacuation by the navy). For the soldiers embarked in the conflict, the events took place on different temporalities. On land, some stayed one week stuck on the beach. On the water, the events lasted a maximum day; And if you were flying to Dunkirk, the British spitfires would carry an hour of fuel. To mingle these different versions of history, one had to mix the temporal strata. Hence the complicated structure; Even if the story, once again, is very simple."

I'm excited to see how Nolan managed to "mix the temporal strata" in Dunkirk. We also learned from the report about the actors who will anchor these three different perspectives: Tom Hardy will be in the air, Cillian Murphy and Mark Rylance will be on the sea, and Harry Styles will be on the beach.

Dunkirk will be released in theaters on July 21, 2017.

Read: Michael Bay Explains Why He Won't Direct a DC or Marvel Film

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