Movie Review: Dunkirk

“There’s no hiding from this, son,” Mr. Dawson (Mark Rylance) warns Cillian Murphy’s character after he is rescued at sea. Dawson is referring to the German forces that surround the Allies at Dunkirk, but he could be referring to what the audience is experiencing as well. There’s no hiding from Christopher Nolan’s latest masterpiece as it grips you from the first scene and doesn’t let go until the credits start to roll. If you’re looking for moments of levity or comedic relief, you won’t find any in this quick-paced 107-minute adrenaline rush of a film. Nolan is here to tell a specific story about one of the most crucial moments of World War II and he does so by putting the audience right in the middle of the action. While other war films will increase intensity by making the audience identify emotionally with characters, provide war room banter, or explicitly explain the historical significance of the depicted event, Nolan instead elects to make the situation itself a character. The situation in question evolves throughout the film and throughout different viewpoints, but it never becomes grander than the characters experiencing it. It is a bold move, and one that not everyone will enjoy. But, if you get sucked into Nolan’s vision, it will be a movie-going experience you’ll never forget.

Dunkirk focuses on the “colossal military disaster” that was the battle at Dunkirk and the evacuation that followed. Over 400,000 British and French soldiers were surrounded by German forces and forced to wait on the beaches for Allied ships to come rescue them. The problem was, they were sitting ducks and the Germans routinely sent planes over Dunkirk to drop bombs on them. The Allies were running out of time and it seemed impossible to save even a small fraction of the soldiers. The film tells this harrowing story from three different viewpoints: the ground, sea, and air. As mentioned before, once the film starts, it does not let up. The soldiers on the ground experience bombs and gunfire from enemy planes, the sea faction must dodge the damage done from above and below, while the air battle to shoot down enemy planes rages on. Each of these storylines is thrilling and features an actor with the ability to anchor each situation in realism and tension. Kenneth Branagh plays a commander on the ground, Commander Bolton, that is realistically trying to save as many soldiers as he can. Mark Rylance plays Mr. Dawson, a local boat owner who journeys to Dunkirk to help his fellow man, and Tom Hardy is Farrier, the pilot who is trying to keep the troops safe from any more enemy attacks. All three of these actors do a wonderful job in grounding their respective situations in realism while setting the stage for tension.

While these actors, and most of the cast for that matter (which includes One Direction’s Harry Styles), do a wonderful job, the real star of the film is writer/director Christopher Nolan. This film is his bold, beautiful, breathtaking vision. I mean that in both a technical and structural sense. On the technical side, there is almost no director working today that can top his technical prowess. While current blockbusters such as Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) or Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) bombard the audience with ginormous CGI battles, Nolan instead uses practical effects. Everything in this film looks, and more importantly, feels real. When ships are bombed or airplanes are shot, the audience feels the intensity of the situation. He lets the action breathe and the audience experience the story’s dramatic stakes. Then, he’ll come in close on a character to show a specific struggle. Not only is his visual aesthetic nerve-wrecking, but from an audio perspective, this movie shines. Planes roar in and out of earshot, bullets pierce through metal with unbelievable ferocity, and water muffles all sounds while soldiers struggle to make it to the surface. Every sound is meant to add to the intensity, and that includes Hans Zimmer’s masterful score. Nolan’s longtime collaborator uses a ticking sound to add to the sense of urgency while building to an almost unbearable climax. If you are familiar with Zimmer’s work, think of his score during the boat scene in The Dark Knight (2008) and you’ll have an idea of what plays throughout this film.

Tom Hardy in “Dunkirk.” Photo by Courtesy of Warner bRos. Picture – © 2016 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Ratpac-Dune Entertainment LLC and Ratpac Entertainment, LLC.

Along with his technical skills, Nolan has always been bold when it comes to structuring his films. The movie that established him, Memento (2000), is a crime mystery where he shows you how the story ends and then works his way back to the story’s beginning. It’s a gripping film, and one you must see if you haven’t, but it more importantly introduced his style of turning conventional narrative structure on its head. Another one of his narrative calling cards is the way he uses time. Whether he is figuratively showing time go backwards in Memento, the way different planets in the galaxy experience time in Interstellar (2014), or even how dreams and ideas can mess with a person’s interpretation of time in Inception (2010), Nolan is obsessed with manipulating time and its relationship with both his characters and stories. Dunkirk is the best way Nolan has showcased time yet as he establishes all three of his viewpoints at their climax and lets them build off each other, even though they are happening at completely different times. It’s a tricky structure to pull off, and one that I can’t remember being used in a war movie before, but Nolan manages to pull it off.

Dunkirk is this year’s Gravity (2013) or Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), both of which were nominated for Best Picture in their respective years, as Nolan substitutes character development for what can only be described as an astounding technical achievement. This will not appeal to everyone, however. Some people might complain that they felt cold about the whole situation as there were no characters to latch onto, which is completely understandable. But, while last year’s Manchester by the Sea was one of the best films of last year because it had incredible three-dimensional characters and some remarkable writing to back them up, from a technical perspective, it was average. Sure, writer/director Kenneth Lonergan established the coldness of a Boston winter, but nothing too technically amazing. It’s the complete opposite with Dunkirk. That film is a monumental technical achievement from a directorial, visual, musical, and auditory standpoint. Sure, the characters aren’t fully fleshed out, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a masterpiece. Masterpieces don’t have to do everything masterfully. This movie will be remembered the same way Gravity and Fury Road are—revolutionary from a technical standpoint and as a film that demands to be experienced on the big screen. Dunkirk should be nominated for Best Picture when it comes Oscar time this winter and it sits with Get Out and Logan as the best films of 2017 so far.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Scott Davis

Scott Davis is a recent graduate of Oakland University where he earned a degree in journalism. He worked for the student newspaper on campus, The Oakland Post, where he became the paper's managing editor. He also earned a minor in Cinema Studies at OU. Scott enjoys all things film and TV related, especially the blockbuster kind. He might be the biggest Christopher Nolan fan you know.

Latest posts by Scott Davis (see all)

• The Preview Reel: Incredibles 2 and Tag - June 13, 2018
• The Preview Reel: Action Point & Adrift - May 30, 2018
• The Preview Reel: Solo: A Star Wars Story - May 23, 2018