Director
Christopher Nolan is undoubtedly considered one of today’s auteur directors. His vision is one that is both distinct
and uncompromising, making blockbuster films that are cerebral and challenging
yet also engaging and entertaining. He is a filmmaker of two sensibilities that
go mostly hand in hand with each other, one that believes in challenging an
audience and the other that believes in entertaining an audience without
treating them like children. Nolan’s brand of complex and engaging blockbusters
has made him a household name but has left me feeling cold at times. I want to
believe in this guy in the way that people write about him but there is
something that feels slightly off about his movies. Maybe some day I’ll get it,
I thought.
Well, that
day is here and Dunkirk is that film. It not only melds these two
sensibilities in a way that feels fresh and familiar but reveals there is a lot
more to Nolan’s film making than what he has shown before.
Dunkirk is
set in May 1940, at the start of World War 2. It follows a group of Allied
soldiers from Belgium as the British Empire and France are surrounded and being
taken out by the rapidly advancing German army. These men are trapped between
enemy lines in an intensely dangerous situation that could be the start of the
end of the world, as we know it. The film follows the men escaping Dunkirk in a
story that intersects across land, air, and water.
Starting with
a roaring intensity that never lets up, Dunkirk is an epic World War 2 spectacle
that never loses touch with it’s core humanity. It is a film that is both
intimate and epic, filled with performances that reinforce the humanity of the
story. Nolan has done a fine job of filling his casting both with big name
actors like Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, and Kenneth Branagh and
actors who are just starting out like Fionn Whitehead and former One Direction
member Harry Styles. Yes, Harry Styles is in this movie and he is wonderful in
it. All of the actors in this film do a fine job of making the war feel real
and intense. There is the sense of existential panic that permeates throughout
the movie and it shows not just in the actor’s performances but also in the
camera work, sound design, and score of the film.
 |
| Oh, man! Guys! I just love the beach! |
Dunkirk's core strength is aided by its visuals and sound. Reuniting Christopher Nolan
with his Interstellar cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, Dunkirk features some
of the most incredible and gorgeous cinematography I have seen this year. Shot
on 70mm IMAX cameras, Dunkirk is breathtaking to look at. Every color is vivid,
every background is huge, and the scale is impressive. Whether it is on land,
air, or sea, the film is a stunning achievement and will most likely be a shoe
in for the Best Cinematography Oscar next year. While Hoytema’s visuals do the
heavy lifting, frequent Nolan collaborator Hans Zimmer’s pulse pounding score
ratchets up the tension in the film and the moments of triumph. It is
definitely one of the best scores of this year and it works well with the film
as a whole. The film’s soundscape is a constant force of piercing noises, we
hear and feel every explosion and bullet fly by, throwing the characters and
the viewer into a brutal and loud cinematic warzone that carries throughout the
film.
These elements
combined together make for a film that shows a crew that is at the height of
their powers. You can tell that Christopher Nolan has grown as a filmmaker and
this might just be his masterpiece. Is
it perfect? No. I could definitely see someone being annoyed that the film does
not spend as much time as it could filling out its characters or that its
structure can be confusing at points. It instead focuses on the situation
around them. We never fully know who these men are but that’s because they are
designed to service the plot and its themes. Another flaw is that while the
sound design in the film is fantastic, it gets so loud at points that viewers
can miss crucial moments of dialogue that help the film land it’s themes
across.
Despite these
flaws, I still think Dunkirk is a great film. This is one that embraces the
existential and human parts of war. We don’t hear or physically see a Nazi ever. They are a looming presence throughout the film but we never see them
because that is not what this is about. This is a story about survival and
the best that humanity can be even in the darkest of times. This is a film
about the bravery and the struggle of the men at Dunkirk. This isn’t a film about an epic battle; this
is a film about survival. And sometimes, that’s all it has to be.
Share this review.
Score
Liam S. O'Connor