Film: An epic approach to a WWII drama

As much a departure as a real-life subject like Dunkirk is for Nolan, his intricate mark is all over it

Fionn Whitehead in Dunkirk

Cinema

Dunkirk: Directed by Christopher Nolan, Nationwide, 12ARating:*****

City of Ghosts; Directed by Matthew Heineman, IFI, no certRating:*****

It’s perhaps surprising that a subject like WWII would attract the attention of Christopher Nolan, given the ambitious, brain-melting fantasy worlds that have sprung from his imagination: tattooed amnesiacs and dreaming criminals, time-travelling astronauts and revisionist superheroes.

Having resisted the gravitational pull of reality throughout his career, with Dunkirk Nolan tells the story of the ...