Once I grasped it was a metaphor about events in Dunkirk

Rating: 9/10 (29 July 2017)

I initially had reservations about Dunkirk. My first reservation was that the beach looked empty with only handfuls of soldiers visible. You never got the impression that there were 400000 soldiers trapped on the beach. Secondly this must be one of the most bloodless war films ever made and, whilst it's easy for directors to slip into war porn these days, men just falling over when shot is utterly unconvincing.
Despite these misgivings I found the film gripping from beginning to end. The aerial scenes in particular were outstanding. The score and sound design were also outstanding ensuring that tension and was maintained and built upon throughout the film. I was also impressed by the mixing of the three timelines and points of view. Going in it seemed impossible for anyone to weave the three together but it works to perfection.
Ultimately my take on the film is that Nolan has created a film that is a series of metaphors about what happened at Dunkirk and not a depiction of the reality of what happened at Dunkirk. The combination of the cinematography, score and fractured timelines give an impression of the horrors of waiting on the beach to be rescued that a more conventional approach could probably never achieve. Another director could have produced an effects heavy movie which lumbered on forever with saccharine character backstories and a linear chronology and it would not be nearly so effective.
I may be wrong but I think Dunkirk is one giant metaphor. And it works