{"id":672,"date":"2023-01-02T12:42:55","date_gmt":"2023-01-02T12:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nancyepton.co.uk\/?p=672"},"modified":"2024-01-04T14:10:55","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T14:10:55","slug":"minimalist-moments-dunkirk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nancyepton.co.uk\/?p=672","title":{"rendered":"Minimalist Moments: Dunkirk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So, 2022 is over. Time to get geared up for more fun film drama. And I\u2019m not talking about the genre. I\u2019m talking about THAT moment involving the actor Chris Pine and a certain member of One Direction. You know what I\u2019m talking about. It barely needs explaining. Did he spit, or did he not spit? To spit or not to spit. That\u2019s the question that a famous bard definitely didn\u2019t ponder. Anyway, the reason I reference that moment is because Harry Styles also features in Nolan\u2019s 2017 epic war film. And, like Don\u2019t Worry Darling<\/em>, he\u2019s pretty…meh. Not terrible, exactly, but not great either. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s not we\u2019re here to talk about. While I found some of Nolan\u2019s characterisation in Dunkirk to be fairly limited, you can\u2019t fault the film\u2019s soundtrack and general manipulation of sound design, which is on full, tense display in the opening scene as Hans Zimmer\u2019s \u2018The Mole\u2019 accompanies a small group of soldiers. There\u2019s not a whole lot going on in that composition, but that\u2019s what makes it great. The constant, ominous ticking lets us know that something bad is about happen, and no expository dialogue is required from the mouths of the terrified soldiers. The composition appears to rise in pitch as the audience wait in tense anticipation for disaster to happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Utilising a technique known as a Shepard tone, Zimmer employs layers of different tones separated by octaves, with each octave getting quieter as it rises. Essentially, the illusion tricks the listener into hearing a rising tone that continues indefinitely. And it\u2019s not like Zimmer has created a musical novelty either. Remember the creepy tune that played when you walked up those endless steps in Super Mario 64? Same idea. You hear noise that apparently rises, but it actually doesn\u2019t, creating the perfect vehicle for tension and dread within a film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dialogue, you say? Oblique narrative plotting, you say? Nah. This is Nolan we\u2019re talking about here. This is his frequent collaborator Zimmer. Through a simple but ingenious technique, sound acts as a substitute for the agonising calm before the chaos that continues throughout the entire epic spectacle. To echo the sentiments of Heath Ledger\u2019s Joker, I like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Review: Dunkirk<\/a><\/blockquote>