Action speaks much louder than words.

Rating: 9/10 (25 July 2017)

Dunkirk
"A chance to get to know you better would have been nice!" This was never a thought that crossed my mind in regards to the characters in Christopher Nolans latest cinematic offering. I've watched several critic reviews and the stand out negative associated with this film is the apparent lack of character development. I however do not share this common gripe. Instead I see exactly where Nolan was going and what he was intending.
This is a war movie. A war movie that focuses on that very subject and immerses the audience in the horrors and despair of all that goes with it. From the very first sound of gunfire we are jolted out of our cinema seat and into the streets of Dunkirk. The startling realism is staggering. The audience can almost smell the sea air and feel the sand from the beach whipping up at their faces. As the wind blows froth from the ocean and onto the beach the texture of this film is almost touchable. We don't just hear the explosions, we feel their impact. The screaming sound of enemy bombers approaching chill you to the very bone as the sound builds to a panicking climax. I urge you to witness this film on an IMAX screen with the best possible sound system. Perhaps this films greatest achievement is just how it manages to transport the viewer and put them right amidst the despair. You are fighting for your own survival here. No time to make friends! This is why character development in this movie is minimal. Who has time to talk about themselves when they are running, swimming and cowering away from death?
The story is told from three different perspectives. Land, sea and air. Christopher Nolan believes the audience to have a level of intelligence that needs them not to have everything explained and pointed out. He trusts we can keep up and work things out for ourselves. This is good as the film bounces back and forth through time more frequently than Marty Mcfly, often overlapping events as they are witnessed by different characters.
Land is despair! As thousands of men queue to board ships that can take them away to safety. The ships are sunk and those who survive end up washed back ashore. Almost as if the beach is hell and it won't let them go.
Sea is hope! Home is on the horizon, just out of reach. Hope in the form of the civilians who cross the channel and risk their own lives to save the trapped men.
Air is both danger and protection. Enemy bombers swoop in picking off the stranded like shooting fish in a barrel. Protection is the Spitfire pilots that gracefully glide in to take down the attacking enemy. Once again a great turn by Tom Hardy who plays the lead pilot. Hardy delivers his performance with just his eyes as he wears a flight mask.
I think Dunkirk can be regarded as one of the best war movies ever made. To be held in the same light as Saving Private Ryan and Platoon. Christopher Nolan takes a very different approach in regards to telling his story but it's a refreshing change and critics shouldn't gripe. Action speaks much louder than words.