The art of the teaser, let alone a full theatrical trailer, is a difficult feat. You want to give the audience just enough to make them curious; to raise awareness. Writer-director Christopher Nolan seems to have mastered this method of selling audiences on subjects as varied as space, implanting ideas (not stealing them), and of course making people anxious to see DC Comics’ famed Caped Crusader again, years after he was put out to pasture by Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin.
In 2017, Nolan transplants us to the Second World War and Dunkirk, France. During May 26 and June 4, 1940, Allied soldiers from Belgium, Britain and France had to be evacuated from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, as they were cut off and surrounded by the German army during the Battle of France. This is the subject of Dunkirk, a film that is being shot on a combination of IMAX 65mm and 65mm large format film stock and lensed by Hoyte van Hoytema (who also photographed Nolan’s Interstellar).
Through the use of bold statements (“AT THE POINT OF CRISIS,” “AT THE POINT OF ANNIHILATION”), images, and sweeping sound that causes troops to look to the skies and duck for cover, this announcement teaser holds back the inevitable. There is no promotion of acting stars like Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, Mark Rylance or Cillian Murphy. Just images and Christopher Nolan’s name and a short resume.
That’s all we need.
