Title: War “Beyond the Battlefield”: A Study of War Spectacle in Christopher Nolan’s Films

Abstract: This paper takes Christopher Nolan’s war-themed films Dunkirk and Oppenheimer as its subjects of study, deconstructing their visual strategies that subvert traditional representations of warfare. By creatively adopting a “non-battlefield” approach, the films deliberately avoid the graphic combat scenes typical of war cinema. Instead, they anchor their depiction in highly aestheticized, indirect elements—such as sonic symbols, confined spaces, and individual micro-experiences—to construct a universal psychological landscape of war and nuclear threat. Viewed through the lens of postmodern theories, namely Jean Baudrillard’s concepts of “simulacra” and “hyperreality,” and Guy Debord’s “society of the spectacle,” this technological spectacle blurs the boundaries between media and reality, transforming complex historical events into consumable sensory spectacles. This profoundly shapes audience cognition and collective memory. The films offer both an inspiration—conveying the essence of war and sparking ethical reflection, thereby opening new pathways for contemplating the ethics of warfare—and a cautionary call—urging viewers to penetrate the spectacle, maintain critical awareness, and transform the shock elicited by the imagery into sustained momentum for deepening public dialogue and promoting peace and justice.

Keywords: Christopher Nolan, spectacle, implosion, war simulacra, Dunkirk, Oppenheimer

Author: Qi Zhang, Ph.D. Candidate, School of Foreign Languages, National University of Defense Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.

DOI: 10.19967/j.cnki.flc.2025.03.003