War as survival

Rating: 9/10 (1 April 2018)

Most war movies are about fighting the enemy, but this is a movie about escaping overwhelming forces. Many of the soldiers are desperate, broken men who just want to live.
The movie follows a number of people, including a soldier constantly scrambling to escape the beach, a ship owner determined to do his part, and some fighter pilots. We don't learn much about these people; while many horror movies celebrate the individual, Dunkirk looks at its characters more as representative types of a massive group.
The filmmaking is extraordinary from the first, striking scene of soldiers under a hail of leaflets. The score, low and droning, expresses the constant edgy, suspenseful feel of war.
This movie is also unafraid of the quiet moments in war. The times pilots aren't in a firefight, or soldiers are simply waiting for the next crisis.
I'm not especially into war movies, and I was disappointed when I heard Christopher Nolan's latest fell into that overworked genre, but it's still a very impressive film.