Date: 2017
Director: Christopher Nolan
Summary: Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Empire and France are surrounded by the German army and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II.
Review
Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk takes on conventions of war films and exploits them as well as subverting the norms. Rated 12A this film has no gore, no blood and no guts yet it is one of the most frightening and danger-filled war films I have seen which is a testament to Nolan's directorial abilities. Although the film has been criticised for its lack of character building I would argue that this film is not about the individual but the collective and film focuses on the event of Dunkirk rather than the men involved which is a bold choice on Nolan's behalf.
Dunkirk is a masterfully crafted film and as all of Nolan's films have proven he is a phenomenal director. From the cinematography to the plot to the sound design Dunkirk is simply a well made film. I particularly enjoyed the non linear narrative structure of this film because the story followed three separate strands each occurring over different periods of time: land (one week), sea (one day) and air (one hour), each of these narrative strands are cross-cutted between throughout the entire film and effectively work together to build tension and suspense. The fact that the audience would witness an event and they go back two, three hours before said event happened really added a feeling of inevitability and hopelessness to the Dunkirk evacuation that perfectly summed up the tone of the situation.
Another attribute of the film was of course the sound design and Hans Zimmer's score which used ticking clock motifs to build the feeling that time was running out. The sound effects used in the film were similarly excellent creating realistic impression of bullets and explosions that served to fully immerse the audience in Nolan's already action packed film.
The film does not simply follow the story of a single soldier or even a handful it concentrates on the events of Dunkirk as a collective. The film is more spectacle and action than story and emotion and this really aids the audience's ability to place themselves within the action on screen. The audience's immersion in the film is further helped by how realistic the depiction of war was and the solider's reactions and choices they made during the evacuation. Dunkirk did not glorify WW2 or the soldiers that fought in it but realistically portrayed both things. Both the soldiers and the audience were blatantly aware of the hopelessness of the situation and this made arguably problematic decisions made by the characters reasonable and acceptable because of the dire situation they found themselves in. However, because of the fact that the situation was so bleak, whenever the men committed true acts of bravery and heroism they were that much more admirable.
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