Outstanding war drama

Rating: 10/10 (11 October 2018)

Director/writer Christopher Nolan employs three perspectives in three different time frames to tell the story of the evacuation of the British Expeditionary forces (and others) from the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940. The week long 'land story' follows two young soldiers who are desperately looking for a ship to take them off the beach while the day long 'sea story' focusses on one of the 'little ships' of Operation Dynamo, the requisition and mobilisation of civilian ships to help evacuate the soldiers, as it crosses the channel and the hour long 'air story', showcases a squadron of three RAF Spitfires providing air support as they face off against Luftwaffe fighters and bombers. The structure of the film is complex as the three stories are intertwined and told concurrently despite the differences in time frames (I found the film a little hard to follow at first). Each tale in the triptych is excellently told, with a compelling narrative, great script and acting and outstanding special effects. While far less graphic and bloody than "Saving Private Ryan" (1998), the scenes on the beaches are equally intense and the recreation of WWII air combat are the best that I have ever seen. Nolan's cleverly keeps the Germans a largely hidden existential threat and limits the action to the British ports, the Channel, and the Dunkirk beaches, avoiding the politics and strategic discussions that lead up to the Dunkirk disaster/miracle (recently depicted in "The Darkest Hour" 2017). All in all, a fantastic war movie and proof that Hollywood does not have to "Americanise' history to make a compelling historical film