Dunkirk: A Timeless Film

Rating: 9/10 (10 March 2018)

Timeless films like Titanic, Grease, or Top Gun have had an strong effect on the pop culture development across the globe. In today's world, modern films have still been prominent in playing the role of a strong pop culture influencer as it once revered for. Nowadays, movies have evolved so much more than just a cultural influencer; now movies are masterpieces of modern art than can be experienced from the confines of your chair. The film of Dunkirk, released in 2017 was a near perfect historical recreation of the evacuation of British troops from the shores of Dunkirk during World War II; so acurate in fact that it was able to bring a WW2 British veteran, that was actually at Dunkirk, to tears. The movie follows the stand points of three different types of people, the soldiers, who are trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk, waiting to depart on their painfully slow transport, the Royal Air Force (RAF) who are taking a small squadron of planes to Dunkirk to protect their troops and transports heading to and from Britain, and the civilians, who are commandeering boats to try and speed up the evacuation of the troops. Dunkirk, in my opinion, is one of the best films released to this day.
The main reason that Dunkirk was a masterpiece in my eyes was mainly due in part to the great cinematography that encompassed the movie. From the first minute of the film, I had been completely entranced into the movie and it's story. Within an instant, the scene's intensity was set with the ear-piercing sniper shot followed my the barrage of raining gunfire. Scenes throughout the film are filled with moments that captivate and entrance you to the story telling and progression of our protagonists. Despite the fact that many viewers were not able to remember the names of any of the characters, the imagery and story is still able to remain engraved in the heads of the viewer as a prominent film. I especially loved seeing the aerial combat scenes that were, in my opinion, some of the best dogfighting I have seen. Many of the aerial scenes follow the main pilot of the Fortis Squadron, Fortis One, single-handedly take on German Nazi bombers and Lutwaffe aircraft as he attempts to protect the rescue ships from getting bombarded. The film's cinematography and story also does a great job at following and potraying the fear of Dunkirk and of fear of dying on the beach, shown in the rescued soldier that made it on the boat with the English boy and his dad. Cinematography wasn't the only great storytelling device of the story. One of the most effective storytelling devices was definitely the amazing score that accompanied the film. For example, throughout the enitre score, there is the presence of a ticking noise that helps to set a fast paced story and represents a lack of time for the British soldiers. Through the dramatic composure style that the famed, master composer Hans Zimmer brought to the film, the story and tone of Dunkirk was able to be perfectly framed.
However some people do not see movies in the same light as the general populous. On the Internet Movie Database, I was able, after a ton of searching, to find a review written by anonymous reviewer, claimed that the film was, "boring, tedious, and without character". All arguments of that statement, in my opinion, are completely wrong. First, the story has loads of action, which really is the enitre point of the film. From scene one, since the first sniper shot, the action keeps on persisting in moments that are truly glorious in cinematography. The next complaint, the tediousness, is there to build character development and to show character interaction, which the user later goes on the say "character building to be an enormous let down". IF that is true, the why did you complain that it was too tedious in detail? Lastly is the complaint that the movie is without character. Yes, it is true that the movie does not do a fantastic job at trying to make people remember names, but you don't need names to remember character.
As impact on popular culture, Dunkirk has been extremely influential on the modern aspect of filmmaking. It has allowed for the world of great cinematography to be recaptured by the general public. Through its filming style, it supplies the audience with a great idea of a beautiful, historically accurate movie. The Soundtrack encapsulates the audience in a stunning environment that figuratively put you on the scene of the Dunkirk beaches. The action is so intense and real, that it thrills even the most avid moviegoer. Finally the story, which was developed over the story of the soldiers, was accurate enough to bring a veteran to tears. These aspects are the reason which has proven Dunkirk to be a timeless film. Dunkirk forever.

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