Movie Review: Dunkirk
2017 was without a clear front runner in the Oscar race up until the weekend of July 21st. Written and Directed by auteur Christopher Nolan Dunkirk is a departure from what fans of the director have come to expect. In no way is this departure a departure from quality.
A massive array of 400,000 British and French soldiers sit stranded on a beach in the city of Dunkirk. Axis propaganda rains from the skies reminding the soldiers how dire their situation is. The Allied commanders are unable to bring their large ships in to get the men away and the water is too turbulent for small row boats to carry them to safety. Moving men off in tiny clusters is a risky maneuver with bombings threatening to sink the ships, blocking the harbor. The soldiers stand in formations until panic breaks out and some are killed with no real way to defend themselves. The formations are made again and the cycle repeats.
The synopsis is dire. The movie is dire. The film, yes that’s an accurate term in this case, at times is tough to watch in its stark hopelessness. That is the point and that is the payoff. Without focusing the story too much on any one individual we are not without characterization as a whole. Instead we are given a familiar face to follow that represents one part of the war. This isn’t exactly conventional storytelling but the results in such capable hands delivers an enthralling and relatable experience.
Tommy (Fionn Whitehead) is the representation of the grunt on the ground. The everyman in a struggle to find their way off the beach.
Farrier (Tom Hardy) and Collins (Jack Lowden) come to save the day in some very realistic aerial scenes that look so period accurate you’ll be clutching your arm rest with white knuckles.
Cillian Murphy is credited only as Shivering Soldier but his haunting performance is key in understanding how being in a situation such as this affects the psyche. Murphy’s character spends the majority of the film with Civilian Captain Mr. Dawson (Mark Rylance) and two kids not yet old enough to serve themselves. Dawson’s character is the beacon of hope in the film. His performance is warm without feeling out of place with everything else around him being so frighteningly bleak.
The commanding officers in the film offer a slightly more informed outlook on the situation and also serve to tell the audience how dire things really are. The men represented are incredibly courageous. As far as the writing goes these characters had the most exposition to deliver and not a single word of it felt like exposition. A true feat in writing and acting.
I’ve used the term film a few times in this write up. I don’t use ‘film’ and ‘movie’ interchangeably. Film is all but a dead medium. Everything is shot digitally now. Even Kodak, a company synonymous with film, doesn’t produce the stuff anymore. Well, almost everything. 70mm film is still something true auteurs love. Nolan shot Dunkirk entirely on 70mm film. Seeking out a special 70mm screening of the movie is well worth any movie fan’s effort.
Along with the exceptional cinematography and flawless visuals the surround sound is the best I can remember hearing in any theater in a long time. A lot of this does depend on the theater itself but I see all my movies in the same three theaters so the comparison is close. The sound mixing, sound effects, voice balance, and score are all exactly where they need to be.
The story is told through the eyes of men from all parts of the military. These stories overlap but don’t all run the exact same time frame. As the movie progresses and the stories come together more and more the overlaps are clear and the fact that the events are not happening chronologically makes no difference in following the movie or understanding its meaning. One final note in the sound editing there is a ticking running throughout the entire film. The ticking quickens or slows with the part of the story the movie is really telling. It’s a subtle touch but very grounding.
Dunkirk is the first real masterpiece of 2017. The bleak story shouldn’t stop you from seeing an overall triumph of a film and piece of history.
Dunkirk: 5/5
