A Solid Left-Handed Pitch From Nolan

Rating: 10/10 (26 July 2017)

When the title and scope of this movie was revealed I was very surprised: the director that has lead the charge in surreal story telling, superheroes, and sci-fi since 2000, is doing a WWII piece? It did not add up in my head, but I was anxious to see what would come of this unexpected combination of elements. The final results did not disappoint, and left us with a solid left handed pitch from writer-director Christopher Nolan. That said, I would agree that this film is one of Nolan's least accessible films for a casual viewer.
The fact that Nolan left behind sci-fi and fictional tales to tell a story based on true events is something new for the director; doing a war piece is new; and much of his cast was all new save Hardy and Murphy. However, with all these new pieces on the board Nolan still retains some of his hallmark characteristics to ensure a delightfully told story, namely his manipulation of time. Non-linear story telling and time manipulation are used in a large portion of his films whether it be the flashbacks of Following, the meet in the middle of Memento, the journal reading in Prestige, slowing time down in Inception, or speeding it up in Interstellar, the man rarely tells a straightforward story, and he does it yet again in a novel and innovative fashion in Dunkirk.
With seeing the same events from multiple perspectives throughout the film, and jumping around on a time line between the land, air, and sea the film immerses you more so than usual into what it must've been like for the individuals involved. Whether it was the pilot in the downed airplane, the group swimming out of the sinking ships, or the men in the boat having Tom Hardy protect them from his airplane.
I have read some criticisms on how there seems to be a lack of connection to the characters-this film lacks any single leading role (A large departure from typical Nolan) and lacks much dialogue-which can make it difficult to feel sorry for them when things go bad, but I argue that the viewers need to meet Nolan halfway. There are numerous instances that are scattered throughout in which the viewers can latch onto in order to feel more deeply connected with characters if one only puts in the effort. A shortlist of said examples are: The boat captain (Rylance) refusing to turn around despite George getting hurt and the soldier warning against it; Hardy's character deciding to stay longer to shoot down more enemy planes despite his fuel levels; The frenchman opening the door on the destroyer after it had been torpedoed; Kenneth Branagh staying longer to help evacuate the French; Peter lying to the soldier (Murphy) about George. All of these moments speak into the character of the individuals and the sacrifices they were willing to make for the greater good.
Such a terrific and novel way to show the heroism of WWII. 10/10 will watch again