Dunkirk Doesn't Disappoint

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2017)

Dunkirk is not a history, at least not in any remotely traditional sense of the genre. The intention of the film is not to educate on the events on that French beach that dreary week, day, and hour. Rather, Nolan used what happened at Dunkirk, a very real part of history, as the foundation for building what is a visceral and ultra-realistic war experience. As only Nolan can do, he turns a smart, if ordinary, concept (a film about Dunkirk) into an ingenious and wholly unique film (an uncomfortable, horrifying, and realistic wartime experience). This is a film that is no fun to watch, as it shouldn't be because war is the worst kind of human evil. Christopher Nolan tries to capture that reality and does so with more gusto than any filmmaker before him. And in that pursuit, his war picture stands alone even among the most insightful war movies. He shakes us to the core, terrifies us, and leaves us traumatized afterward. This was his intention from the start; don't mistake that for bad filmmaking.
Dunkirk works because the history of it, the reality that these sorts of events actually happened to real human beings and aren't just inventions of imagination, immediately gets our attention. While we know deep down that none of these particular characters are real, we are convinced that they certainly could have been and the actions depicted on the screen were likely the same of many hundreds of men on that beach. In a sense, these virtually nameless and unexplored characters serve as the embodiment of all those men – human beings just trying to survive another day. We know nothing of their lives outside that beach, but it doesn't matter. Only survival matters.
The actors turn in solid performances. This is a film designed to do a specific purpose and it is not to showcase the actors. These actors do their part in making the experience come to life. Hans Zimmer turns in another powerful score. While it falls short of his work on Interstellar and Inception, it should rightly earn him some recognition come award season. There is not one single flaw to be found in this movie. As is usually the case with Nolan, he does all the heavy lifting and everyone else does their part to finish the job. While the second, third, and fourth viewing will prove if this is his best work for me, the talk of Dunkirk being Nolan's masterpiece is not unfounded. This is a great film; there is no doubt about that.
It should be said that this is a movie that is very uncomfortable at times. The sound engulfs everything. Occasionally, dialogue is missed because there is so much background noise. However, war is not comfortable so it is natural that a war movie wouldn't be either. It is in these details that Nolan perfects the experience of a war film like no other. If you are looking for a nice evening at the movies, this is not for you. This is an intense, loud, and overall unpleasant movie. Yet, it is beautiful and moving, powerful in its stroke. This is a movie worth watching – not for entertainment but for experience.
From the very first moment, Nolan tries to convince us that what we are watching is not only a true story, but might very well be the actual footage of those fateful days at Dunkirk. And, from the first moment, we believe him. We are engulfed by the deafening sound of planes flying overhead and jolted by the bullets ripping by; we scream in horror as men drown in front us; and we feel hopeless as struggle after struggle continues to leave thousands of men stranded as the enemy closes in. This must be real. No other film experience in my life has so deeply and palpably made me feel as if I am living the same reality as the characters on the screen. I left the theater feeling as if I was leaving Dunkirk myself – just surviving to fight another day.