Nolan's Greatest Since The Dark Knight

Rating: 9/10 (26 July 2017)

There are few directors whose name alone can draw in crowds, giving audiences a piece of work that is as thoughtful as it is engrossing. Nolan (Dark Knight, Inception) may be the premier example, offering one philosophical blockbuster epic after another. With Dunkirk, he gives us one of his most emotionally potent and compact films, but its brevity only helps to enhance its breathless vision of military combat and human resilience. This is as close as some of us may ever get to actual warfare, because once the screen lights up, the thrills and emotional adrenaline never ceases. It's 1940. The Germans have trapped the Allied forces on the shores of Dunkirk. These 300,000+ troops were left hopeless and helpless, if not for a "fleet" of civilian fishing and leisure boats coming from a town called Dover across the sea to transport them home. We start with one young soldier, opening on the battle-stricken beach, and ending with that same soldier on the other end of the rescue. There is no backstory. There is no epilogue. Nolan simply packs us tightly within this one historical moment, filling it with daring rescues and narrow escapes that Spielberg would envy. But of course, a straightforward war picture this is notwe're talking about Nolan, after all. With very little hand-holding, we jump between three different stories within this battle with no regard for linear momentum or time traditional time constraints. Nolan tells his tale to help us feel the chaos, experience the humanity, and appreciate even the most "cowardice" of servants. And, boy, do we. Dunkirk is simply one of the most engulfing, overwhelming war films I've ever seen.