A near perfect look into the mindset of a soldier in the midst of wartime chaos

Rating: 10/10 (20 July 2017)

Dunkirk is a war film written and directed by Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, The Prestige). Based on the real-life Dunkirk evacuation of World War II, the film further proves that Nolan is one of the best living directors and cements his legacy as a brilliant, unique filmmaker.
In 1940, over 400,000 allied British and French troops stationed on the beaches of Dunkirk in France find themselves surrounded by German troops. With the enemy closing in fast, the allied troops desperately try to find ways to escape across the English Channel to the safety of the British mainland.
Despite its limited dialogue, the film offers a near perfect look into the mindset of a soldier in the midst of the wartime chaos. Not since Saving Private Ryan has a film so effectively pulled this off. The unnaturally loud and piercing sound of bullets and gunfire evoke feelings of fear and panic in the viewer, giving off the impression that they too are on the battlefield. The audience is given real sense of a race against time (time being a recurring theme in several Christopher Nolan's films) thanks in part to Hans Zimmer's fantastic, yet, minimalist score. There's not a single moment in this film that does not elicit suspense or tension in the viewer. Christopher Nolan's creative use of cinematography perfectly showcases the desperation of the soldiers in their need to escape. Overall, I consider Dunkirk not only among the director's all time best films, but one of the best war films period.
I rate it a very high 9.5/10