Looking back now, the 2005 "War Start" is of great significance to Nolan's career. His debut "Follow" was not well-known at the time. Although the famous "Memory Fragment" was shocking, the subsequent "Insomnia" stars gathered as a remake but were tepid. After all, he is a meteor. Still the stars are still inconclusive. After all, it’s not a few examples of people bewildered after the director of one or two dazzling works. Not to mention, Neil Blomkamp struggled a few times after the amazing "District Nine". No masterpiece, although Duncan Jones had good quality "Moon" and "Source Code" at the beginning, but after the mediocre "Warcraft" almost fell sharply.
The difference between a real gifted scholar and Jiang Lang, and only in long-distance running can the survival of the fittest truly survive. But at that moment, the level of Nolan, who was in his early thirties who challenged the Batman series, and Jones, who had just taken over from Warcraft, was not obvious. Although small-cost independent films have amazing novelties, they will certainly win acclaim, but commercial blockbusters are another kind of thing. The first thing is the restriction of freedom. You can't design the content and structure of the movie as you like. You must follow some existing ones. Straightforward-whether it is Batman's image habits or the ethnic relationship of Warcraft, but the ability to innovate under the constraints of stereotypes is what a real good director needs to achieve. Therefore, there are many talented directors who want to be free to stay away from mainstream commercial films forever. They make some niche art films, and there are indeed niche fans. This choice is understandable, but I always feel that I accept kitsch. The challenge of filming a director who has both depth and popularity is more worthy of admiration.
In a documentary filming the highlights, a person in charge of DC Comics recalled that Nolan's first question to him was: Can the yellow circle around the Batman logo be removed. Any fan who is familiar with Tim Burton's old Batman movie series will never forget the yellow color, it is even the cover of the first Batman Blu-ray suit. This is Nolan's first style imprint on the Batman series. The bright yellow label is full of fairy tale-like childishness, and Tim Burton’s iconic childish “childishness” is like Zach Schneider’s iconic “two spirits”, although they complement each other in their best works and content. (The innocent father in "Big Fish" and Rorschach in the second in "Watchmen" are equally moving), but it is not suitable for Batman, so Michael Keaton and Big Ben's Batman are at best unsatisfactory. And Nolan's iconic style, like the rigorous masters Akira Kurosawa and Kuberik, is a sense of pressure. The pure black bat mark is the expression of the style of pressure. In fact, Nolan’s two worst movies-"The Dark Knight Rises" and "Dunkirk"-are lack of pressure, the former protagonist is not challenged enough to be convincing, so the final victory becomes ordinary The superficiality of comics and movies, the latter is full of unclear motives and lacks plot tension. However, in "The Hour of War", the style of black clouds pressing the city is everywhere. In the filming highlights, a Warner executive suggested that the Batmobile must be added before the production of the film, so Nolan also included these requirements into the plot. "Is this car available in black?" is the most shining part of the trailer.
Of course, the tone is only the appearance, the tension of the core of the story is the deep realization of the sense of pressure. Nolan’s wife, who is also the producer of most of Nolan’s films, originally thought that Nolan would not be interested in a Batman movie, but Nolan said that as soon as he received the project plan, he thought of making an origin movie. Because "Batman's initial growth has never been fully described in movies or even in comics, and this is what interests me most". So we saw Bruce Wayne’s fragility and hesitation, wrong beliefs and mistakes, fear and then rise in our own fear, even the decoration of the cloak is a practical improvement after the failure experience (it’s hard to imagine how such a person still needs "Darkness" The so-called "jump of faith" in Rise of the Knights). ——Why choose a story of origin and growth? I would rather believe that this is a reflection of Nolan's own growth. Like Wayne, he took the pressure and he perfected himself. As Warner executives said afterwards: This is not a Batman movie, this is not even a comic book movie, this is a Chris Nolan movie. Batman begins is nolan begins. I prefer the translation of "The Hour of War", because the moment of Batman's war is also the moment of Nolan's own war.
The choice of starring Batman is also a carrier of pressure. I used to think that Bell and Nolan would become stable actor and director partners like De Niro and Scorsese, especially after Bell starred in the non-Batman series "Fatal Magic". However, if you think about it carefully, Bell’s temperament is Calm and crazy and extreme in the city, he is only suitable for one type of role: a double-faced person who is normal on the surface and actually has a crazy life or secret. The characters in Batman and "Fatal Magic" are like this, except for these two. Bell's best performances outside the department are also such roles: "American Psychiatric" and "The Mechanic" with amazing changes in (weight). The sensitive and fragile pressure-sensing temperament of Little Plum in "Inception", and the pressure-sensing temperament of Matthew McConaughey in "Interstellar" that is more similar to ordinary people's emotions and desires are more compatible with the texture of the film, and also with Bell The temperament is very different.
As a movie fan, to this day, I still remember the mood before I went to the cinema to watch Batman Begins: expectation is uncertain. It didn't disappoint me, and it has always been my personal favorite of Nolan's Batman trilogy. Although the artistic achievement and box office of "The Dark Knight" may be higher, we need to remember that the good reputation and good box office of "The Hour of War" made the second part possible. Thirteen years later, this year the movie was released in 4K UHD Blu-ray along with several other Nolan movies. Although a considerable part of 4k Blu-rays are just gimmicks, this film scan that Nolan personally repaired completely refreshed the roughness of the previous 1080p Blu-rays. It really made me feel like I was back to the excitement when I watched the premiere in the early morning in a foreign country. As much as I am interested, I write up this film review thirteen years later.
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