Familiar Tricks, Unlike Any War Film

Rating: 8/10 (1 August 2017)

The only explanation of the events surrounding Dunkirk are few lines of text and Nazi propaganda. Maps of France, covered in red demarcating German territory, which falls on a squad of British solider scavenging in an abandoned city. It declares: Surrender + Survive. Within seconds of an enemy encounter, only one soldier will survive. This sequence is the closest we will get to combat depicted in more exhilarating war movies. Not in this scene nor any other do we see a single Nazi solider.
War is a favorite subject, why is obvious. Any emotion can be provoked, any existential question explored, against a backdrop of war. As a result, a diverse pantheon of great war films have emerged. Dunkirk, by critical demand, is set to join these hallowed ranks. Call these proclaimers Nolan fanboys, but already comparison are being made to the likes of standards Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, and Platoon. But this is a disservice to all parties. Of the three aforementioned film, all belong to the same genre, but when each are distilled to their most base essence, I would only describe 1 ½ as being "about" war. Almost unimaginable, there is a grander scale where war is just a subtheme e.g. an exploration of human madness. Nolan strives for the exact opposite in Dunkirk. Dunkirk seeks to narrow the scope, it is not about war, or WW2, or even really an event in WW2. Thus the opening scene, were context is rendered to a few measly lines. Don't panic, or at least not yet. Dunkirk is a story of many struggles for survival, and Nolan is going to root through his usual bag of tricks to extract this perspective from history's grandest retreat.
Nolan is back to his trademark storytelling technique in Dunkirk. There are three major plot lines cut together in nonlinear fashion. Two soldiers attempt to escape the beach, a trio of civilians cross the channel on a one boat rescue mission, and a pilot defends all against German aircraft. Individually, each account is almost overly simplistic, but they are edited so that a sleepy film-goer might find the narrative incompressible. The temporal dicing can lead to monumental changes in shot composition from cut to cut, including night to day, clear skies to grey, and from calm to raging seas. When plot lines do briefly converge, their might be a 40 minute gap between one perspective and its reflection. Audiences looking for plot to serve as a guide will be lost. Then, when they make the logical next step a look for a central character, they will grow more bewildered. Dunkirk relies on an ensemble cast, I would be impressed by anyone perceptive enough to walk out of the theater remembering any two characters' names. No time to really explore individual performances, but the cast is astounding. Quality notwithstanding, no single part is hefty enough to serve as a focal point. Without defining plot or characters, people looking to evaluate Dunkirk on their customary schema are going to be unfulfilled. Where the heart of most films lie, Nolan has created a void. Dunkirk is a masterpiece because beyond this absence there is only intentioned craft.
Dialogue is a rare interruption in Dunkirk. There is virtually no exposition. Still, gleaning motivation is never a problem. The solider pair making up 1/3 of Dunkirk observe their situation, and, without speaking, mutually understand the best path to survival. The closest we get to a comical moment is when the duo simply look to each other, no choice to what their next act must be. The audience understands these characters by the same method they understand each other. Only later we learn speech that could have espoused the situation was impossible. The score speaks clearer than any dialogue. What Zimmerman lacks in subtly here is compensated by his brutal effectiveness. Symphonic blaring with an omnipresent ticking, the crux is dissonance rather than resolution. Audiences will pray for silence and its arrival is rapturous. But the eyes will be as overwhelmed as the ears. Dunkirk is constantly upsetting with vastnesses of oceans, beach, and sky as counterpoints against confined quarters, dense with humanity and rising water. There is no rest, or even catharsis. None of the hallmark exhilaration associated with the genre. Death comes via suicide, stairs, water, and oil. Extinction by strafing is almost pleasant because it is familiar within the context of war.
Dunkirk should not happen under the laws of moviedom, it is a fortunate example of when a powerful director can tell a story of personal importance with personal style. The most common criticism will be from those who entirely missed the point, complaints about story and character despite the deliberate steps to make clear these ideals were never the goal. Saving Private Ryan fails if you walk out of the theater without remembering the name of Hank's character. Make a rule of thumb from this, but not a universal standard. For some, the blunderous beautify of war exemplified in films like The Big Red 1. These are their war films. That's fine, but you must also appreciate Dunkirk which requires a bit of investment and does not hold your hand. I can only hope this is not too much of a burden.