Christopher Nolan is currently running for the Oscars with his World War II drama Oppenheimer. The film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture-Drama and won the director his first Golden Globe. The director is touted to win the big Academy Award as well due to the dream run that the Cillian Murphy-starrer had.
This is the second time that Nolan has been nominated for an Oscar. His previous nomination also came for a World War II epic drama, Dunkirk, which depicted the infamous evacuation from Dunkirk beach in France. It was the first time that Nolan had made a film based on real events and reportedly sought advice from noted director Steven Spielberg.
Christopher Nolan Asked Steven Spielberg For Advice On Dunkirk
Director Christopher Nolan made his first attempt at an adaptation of a real event with 2017’s Dunkirk. The film was lauded upon release for its authentic depiction of war and the evacuation efforts for British soldiers on Dunkirk Beach. Many veterans who had attended the screening of the World War II film reportedly acclaimed the film for its authenticity.
To bring out the realism and authenticity of war in the film, Christopher Nolan reportedly showed the opening scene of Steven Spileberg’s Saving Private Ryan to his crew. The chaotic battle sequence depicts the fight between US and German forces at Omaha Beach as the American Army attacked the beach as part of the Normandy invasions.
The Tom Hanks starrer opened with the brutal sequence at Omaha Beach and continued to more harrowing events experienced by the ground-level soldiers. Nolan reportedly showed the film to his crew to understand the frantic and authentic portrayal of a war sequence. He said to Variety,
“The film has lost none of its power. It’s a truly horrific opening, and there are later sequences that are horrible to sit through. We didn’t want to compete with that because it is such an achievement. I realized I was looking for a different type of tension.”
The film won Steven Spielberg an Oscar for Best Director and Best Cinematography for Janusz Kaminski. However, the film’s loss at the Oscars for Best Picture to Shakespeare in Love, despite winning the Golden Globe, was seen as one of the biggest snubs in history.
Christopher Nolan Saw Dunkirk As A Story Of Survival
Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk was not a typical Awards-friendly World War II drama. For starters, the film was positioned as a blockbuster and was released in the summer of 2017, which was usually reserved for event films. The film was also made on a $100 million budget and an equal budget was reportedly allocated for marketing the film.
Christopher Nolan told Variety that he wanted to treat the film as a survival story more than just the politics of war. The film had more suspense and a non-linear narrative. The director also stripped the film of all backstory to show the heroic nature of the people who went into war, be they civilians or armed forces. Nolan said about his vision for the film,
“I didn’t view this as a war film. I viewed it as a survival story…I needed suspense, and the language of suspense is one where you can’t take your eyes from the screen…We constructed our set-pieces not around violence, not around blood, but around physical jeopardy.”
Steven Spielberg, whom Christopher Nolan approached for advice while directing his first War film, mentioned that he encouraged the Inception filmmaker to prioritize the research he did for the film and the event over his imagination. Spielberg said,
“Knowing and respecting that Chris is one of the world’s most imaginative filmmakers, my advice to him was to leave his imagination, as I did on ‘Ryan,’ in second position to the research he was doing to authentically acquit this historical drama.”
Though the film garnered appreciation and acclaim, it did not win many Awards at the Golden Globes or the Oscars. The film was the first nomination for Christopher Nolan at the Oscars, but he lost the award to Guillermo Del Toro for Shape of Water.
Dunkirk is currently streaming on Peacock Premium. Saving Private Ryan is streaming on Paramount Plus.
