Christopher Nolan Reveals Why He's a Fan of a PG-13 Rating for 'Dunkirk'

#ChristopherNolan's impressive directing filmography has spanned almost twenty years, with many taking note of his talent following 2000's thriller Memento. He directed one of the best film trilogies in recent history with his #Batman trilogy and conquered the box office with 2010's Inception as well as his last feature film, 2014's Interstellar. His highly anticipated take on a major event during World War II with Dunkirk releases this summer and fans cannot wait to see how the heavyweight director tackles what Nolan refers to as "a survival story."

Check out the trailer below.

Don't Call It A War Flick

While speaking with the Associated Press, the issue of handling a PG-13 war film arose since some wonder how a film depicting the terrors of war could possibly be anything less than an R. With other classics as Saving Private Ryan and Letters from Iwo Jima all garnering the R-rating for their various portrayals, Nolan explains that his movie aims for more suspense than carnage:

"All of my big blockbuster films have been PG-13. It’s a rating I feel comfortable working with totally. ‘Dunkirk’ is not a war film. It’s a survival story and first and foremost a suspense film"

He continued by hinting at the "high level of intensity" the film has - which gets us all giddy with excitement - and compliments the other films who utilize the bloody brutality for their respective take:

"... [While] there is a high level of intensity to it, it does not necessarily concern itself with the bloody aspects of combat, which have been so well done in so many films. We were really trying to take a different approach and achieve intensity in a different way."

Nolan concluded by stating he wants to get as many butts into the theater as possible:

"I would really like lots of different types of people to get something out of the experience.”

The second installment to Nolan's Batman franchise, The Dark Knight is lauded as not only one of the greatest sequels of all time, but also one of the best comic book films ever made. The violence depicted in the film is immensely terrifying despite there being virtually no gore on screen, Nolan focuses his depiction of terror strictly on the psychological components of an individual.

The Joker's Magic Trick sequence is nothing short of pee-in-your-pants-inducing even though it is only a few seconds long with no blood shown. Nolan doesn't need to rely on overly graphic sequences to demonstrate his ability to highlight violence. The PG-13 ultimately opens the doors for many (appropriately) aged audience members to witness his take on the events at Dunkirk, a prospect Nolan hopes to achieve come July.

Dunkirk stars Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy and Harry Styles and will hit theaters on July 21st, 2017.

(Source: The Playlist)