A somewhat different kind of film from Christopher Nolan, albeit still marked by some of his preoccupations - most notably, the passage of time and how it affects action and people.
The focus is intense, and punishing; characters have no back story and little in the way of arcs, and what's on screen feels more like a series of actions than any kind of plot or narrative. It also literally gave me a headache, compounded no doubt by the massive imax format presentation (fully utilised by Nolan so that, disorientingly, the picture was square or even maybe portrait-dimensioned rather than the usual cinematic landscape - put to use throughout, but to especially sheer effect during the aerial combat scenes); the constantly throbbing, occasionally snapping and cracking score didn't help either on that front.
A powerful and, I think, successful film, its use of spectacle in service to the experience of war that it aims to evoke, but I don't think I'd watch it again and it falls into the 'easier to admire than love' category for me.
(w/ Andreas and Adam)
The focus is intense, and punishing; characters have no back story and little in the way of arcs, and what's on screen feels more like a series of actions than any kind of plot or narrative. It also literally gave me a headache, compounded no doubt by the massive imax format presentation (fully utilised by Nolan so that, disorientingly, the picture was square or even maybe portrait-dimensioned rather than the usual cinematic landscape - put to use throughout, but to especially sheer effect during the aerial combat scenes); the constantly throbbing, occasionally snapping and cracking score didn't help either on that front.
A powerful and, I think, successful film, its use of spectacle in service to the experience of war that it aims to evoke, but I don't think I'd watch it again and it falls into the 'easier to admire than love' category for me.
(w/ Andreas and Adam)
