On episode 161 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter are joined by AwardsWatch contributor Trace Sauveur to discuss the next film in their Christopher Nolan series, Dunkirk (2017).

Welcome back to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, the boys attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema's greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision-making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you've got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love.

After Nolan's epic space family drama, the director looked to his other home country of England to take a look at one of the most important moments of humanity within World War II with Dunkirk. Instead of making a sweeping war picture, Nolan strips everything down to the visuals, uses three different sections of time, and splices them together to create the tension, fear of these men stranded on a beach within looking distance of home. In doing this, he created an undeniable masterpiece that took away some of his bad habits and makes a lean film that feels like an action set piece all the way through. Ryan, Jay, and Trace break down their thoughts on the film, Hoyte van Hoytema first collaboration with Nolan, each section of the war, how awesome Tom Hardy is in the plane we see in the film, the acting of Harry Styles, the sound work, and Jay's continued quest to remind us all that WWII is still underrated when we talk about important events in the world.

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This podcast runs 2h04m. The guys will be back next week to continue their series on the films of Christopher Nolan with a review of his next film, Tenet. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let's get into it.

Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and "B-3" from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).