We have our first look at one of 2017’s most anticipated films: Christopher Nolan’s World War II epic: Dunkirk.  Nolan’s last outing, Interstellar, was not among my favorite of his films (which is to say I merely “really liked it” instead of “memorized it”).  I’m not sure how much that had to do with the loss of Nolan’s cinematographer from Memento through The Dark Knight Returns: Wally Pfister.  Interstellar’s cinematographer, Hoyte Van Hoytema, returns as does longtime Nolan composer, Hans Zimmer.

Nolan is not only, in my opinion, the best director working, but also one of the most talented writers in any medium.  The screenplay for Dunkirk was written by Nolan.  Dunkirk, was not so much a battle as it was, perhaps, the most miraculous retreat in all of warfare.  It was the early days of WWII, the Nazis were steamrolling through France, and all Allied efforts were failing.  Suffering immense casualties, the remaining 300,000 troops were cornered in a tiny town called Dunkirk on the French coast.  They assumed they would meet their end there, but from across the British channel came not only military ships for evacuation, but literally anything that could float.  If you could sail it, British citizens set out to save their troops.  It’s an astounding story and I’m very much looking forward to Nolan’s telling of it.

The film stars James D’Arcy, Harry Styles, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Kenneth Brannagh, and Mark Rylance.  Dunkirk will open in IMAX and regular theaters on July 21, 2017.