Dunkirk Review

Rating: 9/10 (25 July 2017)

Dunkirk is a film written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Whenever a Nolan film comes out, I am very excited. I am a fan of each and every film of his. So when I knew Nolan was going to direct a film on WW 2 I said "He is Nolan. He won't do anything straight." And that's what I got.
Plot: Set during World War 2, this focuses on the evacuation of soldiers trapped in Dunkirk.
Story and direction: Whenever I go to a Nolan film, I always expect to be surprised in every way. And Dunkirk is exactly that. It got me surprised in each and every scene. I don't expect less from a Nolan film. And since it is written by him too, you don't expect the story to be that simple. We get the story in 3 perspectives: Land, Air and Sea. And each of these have a time-line attached to them. And also we get the non linear narrative, which is Nolan's style. The most people have complained about little characterization. I don;t think we need characterization for a war film. In real time, we don't have time for any chitchat. And we don't also get to see any of the opposing forces. Which was also a change. The horror that someone is always behind you just to finish you off, was enough to keep me scared. Which I think Nolan got right. Then we have the vast production values. I heard that to minimize VFX extras and planes were actually used. Even if VFX was used, I couldn't know. It was seamless. Nolan gets a Hats Off from my side. Taking such a risk actually paid off. The sound design was awesome too. The gunshots, bombs, etc... I guess they sounded real as ever. I have never paid to sound design in any film except for this one. Ans finally Hans Zimmer. He is a genius. The BGM enhanced my interest in this film further.
Acting: I guess when it comes to casting Nolan nails it. Fionn Whitehead and Harry Styles were great in their roles. So as Jack Lowden and Tom Hardy. The amount of depth and conflict that Hardy's character faced every minute was riveting. Mark Rylance was exceptional. You could easily see the dedication on his face. Not to miss out Kenneth Branagh. He too was good in the limited role he had.
Favorite Scene: I guess it would be where Cillian Murphy's character says Dawson to turn around the boat. We get to see the horror a soldier has faced and why is he scared. And then Dawson says that he is just scared. He will get over it. That scene was just picture perfect.
Verdict: The film is very good but not excellent. In comparison to other war films the film is a shortfall. I actually can't fault it. Everything was perfect. But not to give it a 10.
I am going with a 9/10.