Exhausting

Rating: 9/10 (1 August 2017)

I found myself with fists clutched holding my breath and by the end of the film totally exhausted, that's what a great job Nolan has done of immersing the viewer in the experience of Dunkirk. Partly this has been achieved by the music which was so stress inducing, having an almost "nails scraped down a board" effect.
I was telling some elderly residents of a care centre today about the movie and one Scottish lady told us her father had died at Dunkirk and one of his friends carried his body all the way back home to Scotland. That spirit of courage is captured so well in this telling of the tale. The captain of the small boat who wouldn't turn back, the Spitfire pilot who kept on fighting knowing he was running out of fuel and the soldiers who queued, just waiting and waiting.
The opposite side is also presented and I'm sure we all fear we may be the one willing to push someone out of the boat to save our own skins. I enjoyed the way Nolan looks at so many different aspects of this incredible story.
My one wish is that the film would have cut away to the wonderful sight of people streaming in to churches across the nation in response to King George's request for a national day of prayer. Google "National time of prayer at the time of Dunkirk 1940" and have a read about this aspect that is missing from the movie. But well done everyone involved in this excellent movie.