Dunkirk is an authentic, practical piece of art that is visually stunning and technically perfect

Rating: 10/10 (2 August 2017)

DESCRIPTION: "The enemy have driven the British and French armies to the sea. Trapped at Dunkirk, they await their fate. Hoping for deliverance. For a miracle."
REVIEW: The film unfolds both beautifully brilliant and intensively subjective. Known from Nolan's non-linear story lines, this approach is technically mastered by his vision of the story. The plot is stranded and told with 3 perspectives in 3 different time-frames. This element of storytelling device causes for a comprehensive, full-scale picture of the event. The filmmaker is in that way able to tell the whole evacuation in just under 2 hours runtime (his shortest film since Following (1998)). It is neat and compact. Not overdone and rely on zero exposition; I think he heard the fair share of criticism here.
So, introducing first: The soldiers waiting on the beach by the Mole, which lasts a whole week. While the horrors upon the sea wave a time of one day. The battles in the air and Farrier's plane engine run and roll for one hour. As the story progressed, the sequences synchronize while the story lines intertwine. All that backed up by a blistering and blasting score delivered, once again, by Hans Zimmer.
Fun fact: Zimmer used Nolan's own pocket watch as the ticking time sound heard in the background. It's crazy how the sound intensifies the ticking while the action- driven plot thickens. One more quite notable technical aspect, there is little to no dialogue. The director studied silent-films while prepping for the project. This, of course, means that there is a lack of character development and story insight. Though this may cause some dividedness from viewer to viewer, as getting used to this rarely seen structure. However, one should know that it doesn't matter. It's an experience where you're part of. You're invested in this whole splendid act.
From start to finish, the whole movie is actually one giant action sequence and an epic thrill-ride. And so it begins: The opening of Dunkirk, where soldiers are wandering and walking around a deserted street, papers (that read: "We Surround You") sailing through the wind, landing on soldier's helmets. When suddenly enemy fire emerges and one young soldier survived the shootout, only to find himself on the beach with (realistically supposed to be) 400.000 other soldiers looking scared into the sky seeing German planes approaching and ultimately unloading aerial bombs on the beachscape. (I still feel sorry for him not having had the chance to properly take a sh*t, but I bet he probably sh*t himself considering the circumstances he would find himself later in.)
Later down the line we find ourselves in the utterly thrilling target practice sequence where soldiers are trapped in a boat, hoping to float into the water, only to find themselves hostage by unexpected flying bullets hitting the under deck. There occurs a leak and one soldier dies immediately just after a single, innocent peek. Meanwhile, a friendly pilot was shot down out of the sky and now finds himself in a similar situation. He is trapped in his own cockpit, hostage from the heavily flowing water that's filling up inside, only minutes away from drowning, he tries to break out. It's all about building up suspense here (Hitchcock's way of filmmaking).
And, perhaps the most memorable moment in the movie, Tom Hardy saving the lives of thousands of soldiers on the beach. With his plane run out of fuel, he sails through the wind and floats in the air, opening his small cockpit window to hear and receive a roar of applauds by the people on land. In another scene, the rest of the surviving soldiers are hopping on a train at night, and later waking-up to a "new-world". Channeling back, Ferrier's plane is slowly descending, comfortably landing onto the watery beachscape. Knowing that he's gonna get captured by the German and held as a prisoner of war, he first burns down his plane, in case the enemy benefits from the technology that would only be added to their already advanced arsenal. The flickering burning flames fill up the frame as soldiers are approaching in the distance. A silent hero is being sacrificed, but "we shall never surrender". And just before cutting to black, there is a completely silent shot of that young soldier sitting in a train, wondrously- looking up. The cinema was completely silent. You could only hear that mundane sound of a newspaper. Indicating that life simply goes on.
VERDICT: Christopher Nolan has crafted another brilliant movie. Once again, he showcases his direction and writing skills powerfully as well as artfully. Zimmer's soundtrack is bombastisc. It fits perfectly into the film. The cinematography is beautifully done by Dutch cameraman Hoyte Van Hoytema (DoP, Interstellar) The acting performances also feel pure and real. (Nolan intentionally casted young and inexperienced actors, some roughly just 18 years old. This was done in order to increase a stronger sense of reality).
Personally, I love that the movie doesn't linger on cliché war-porn, forms of perfectly scripted dialogue. It neither suffers from being cheesy or unoriginal. Instead, this is in fact probably the most innovative movie you'll ever seen. It is purely practical and wholly experimental. The director really emptied his tank with this unique take on the war genre. An achievement in modern-day cinema that is an authentic and traditional piece of art.
Dunkirk can arguably be considered as one of the greatest war movies of all time. Definitely in recent memory. Time will tell how well it holds up against films such as Saving Private Ryan. But to say the least, Dunkirk is a magnificent triumph. There's nothing quite like it. It doesn't try to be something else. It is masterfully grounded in it's own perfect picture that it's painting and portraying. This is as close and real as war films get. Realistically, flawlessly executed. That's why it works time and time again.
10/10