Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk re-edited as a silent film works brilliantly
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Kelly Rissman
US News Reporter
Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk featured such sparse dialogue and atmosphere-heavy scenes that many reviewers remarked that it functions almost like a silent film.
YouTube channel Like Stories of Old decided to put this to the test, re-sequencing clips, minus dialogue, in black and white and 4:3 aspect ratio.
All the hallmarks of the silent movie era are there, from the bombastic score and fast motion to the grain and explanatory cards.
"Spitfire George, greatest plane ever built," Mark Rylance's characters 'says' at one point as planes go overhead.
The edit works very well, showing the style of cinema Nolan may have taken his leads from when preparing such a classic war film.
"I was amazed at how well it translated and how well it highlighted Nolan’s use of camera angles, body language, facial expressions and staging in Dunkirk’s storytelling; a great use of visuals both in portraying minor conflicts as well as in telling the story as a whole," Like Stories of Old wrote.
"I think there are many recent films that have scenes with strong visual storytelling, but I can’t think of many films that can be turned into a silent film in their entirety and still work. Dunkirk however, I believe, is one of those films."
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