Christopher Nolan's rendition of one of World War II's most relevant battles explodes for a breathtaking experience

Rating: 9/10 (22 July 2017)

Hollywood mogul Christopher Nolan is a filmmaker who almost always knows how to hit the right notes in every genre he ventures. Stepping away from the realm of comic book adaptations and science- fiction, Nolan tests the waters of the war genre in this harrowing retelling is one of most heroic events of World War II in the European front. The journey here is through the terrifying atmosphere of the Dunkirk evacuation following a brutal defeat by the Germany army, and Nolan's take on this event is, in the simplest words, breathtaking. It is a powerful story of survival that capitalizes on tension from the opening scene to the very end, and if Nolan proves anything, it is that he more than knows how to keeps moving without sparing even in a single dull moment throughout its runtime. From a technical scaled to its narrative heft, he becomes the driving force of leading its ensemble cast on the road through one of the defining events of the second war. Set in 1940, this film focuses on the story of 400,000 soldiers of the Allied Powers trapped on the beach of Dunkirk, France by the German Air Force raining down bombs and gunning down the poor soldiers down below. Escaping on the naval ships accompanied by English Admiral (played by Kenneth Branagh), the soldiers are just miles away from home but are forced to deal with the overwhelming German air force attacking them in, that is until the British air force comes to their rescue. The film follows three intertwining perspectives, the first involving British soldiers Tommy (played by Fionn Whitehead) and who escapes with fellow soldiers (one played by pop-star Harry Styles) on a boat across the sea while dodging enemy fire from above. The second one following British spitfire pilot Farriet (played by Tom Hardy) and his squadron fending off against German pilots thousands of feet above the English channel, and another one following Mr. Dawnson (played by Mark Rylance) commanding a private ship on the sea with the help of his son Peter and a young local teenager, while saving a fallen, disoriented soldier (played by Cillian Murphy) in the process.
This war epic is not much more of a war film than it is a survival flick. After all, the goal of these thousand soldiers was to fight against the invading German Air Force for their life in what was seemingly a hopeless situation until the British Air Force arrived on scene. Christopher Nolan captures every moment with stunning emotional resonance and palpable authenticity, and the tension smoldering each sequence almost never lets up. Opening with a British Private played by Fionn Whitehead, Nolan dedicates virtually no time into developing any of the character following their introductions on screen, so there is never a character we are able to emotionally latch onto, let alone distinguish as nearly every character is identical to their dark hair and green army uniforms. The politics behind the battle are left alone as well. Instead, Nolan jumps straight into the action showing the harrowing chaos of these soldiers on land, air, and sea. Similar to 'Memento', Nolan also uses a bold method of experimenting with time, which involves presenting the story into three separate perspectives intertwining with each other. While his method is somewhat effective, it also exhibits the disadvantage of occasionally complicating the storyline, especially as each separate segment takes place within varying amounts of time. On the bright side, his method does very little hinder the gripping realism of each sequence which are shot by Hoyte Van Hoytema who captures the claustrophobia of the soldiers trapped in a sinking ship and Tom Hardy confined inside the cockpit while fighting off German pilots. As this film carries a PG- 13 rating, unused in the war genre, Nolan strays away from the graphic carnage of these sequences in place of capturing the paranoia and emotional devastation of the soldiers, most of which is nicely assisted by a soaring score by Hans Zimmer. Do not go in expecting blood splatters and limbs blown off. And for the performances, everyone in the cast gets the done - - none of whom stand among the rest.
Dunkirk is a powerful, breathtaking war epic that shows Christopher Nolan breathing life into the war genre with spectacular realism and an emotionally gripping tone, while honoring the brave heroes during the harrowing event. This movie reminds moviegoers of the director's talent that ravages the beauty of Hollywood. In other words, it is surprising to say this film could stand as one of the most profound movies of the year, possibly even worthy for some talk for the Oscars.