A Masterpiece of Epic Minimalism

Rating: 10/10 (15 March 2019)

I wouldn't have thought you could make a minimalist epic. But that's exactly what Christopher Nolan did. I never would have thought it possible to make a suspense thriller out of events that everyone already knows the ending of. But he did that too. He's stripped away every unnecessary element; every subplot and war movie cliché until all that remains is the desperate men on and above the beach and an ever growing sense of tension. And it is magnificent.
It begins with brief narration, then volleys of gunfire from unseen assailants at frightened men running through the streets. This will set the tone for what's to come. Although dogfights and scenes of bombing and shelling are frequent, we rarely see more than a glimpse of the Germans. Instead we're given a growing and almost palpable feeling of dread; the knowledge that the enemy is massed just beyond the horizon and that time is running out.
With every near miss, and with each ship sunk or plane shot down the suspense grows. And no sooner is one disaster averted than another threat looms. We know from history class that most of the army will get home alive, but we don't know if the men we're following will be among them. The effect is almost like High Noon or Gravity in that the viewer is constantly kept on the edge of their seat, awaiting what comes next.
Though we see thousands of men and dozens of ships in some shots, most of the movie is almost intimate in its focus. Most scenes follow handfuls of men on the beach, a trio of fighter pilots circling over Dunkirk, and the crew of small civilian boat. We share their desperation and determination, their hope and fear. We see the bravery and sacrifice of ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances, and the cowardice and paranoia of men who have been through too much. Though we never learn their backstories or -with one exception- their names, their actions and their expressions tell us enough.
The film's visual aesthetic is as minimalist as its narrative. Long shots of sea, sky, and beach abound, with a single boat or airplane to remind us there's a war going on. Even when the camera takes in the whole port and the thousands waiting on the beach, it only reinforces how stranded and exposed they are. Even the explosions are fairly restrained.
The editing deftly adds to the suspense with frequent cuts between groups of protagonists during their tensest moments. There's even a bit of nonlinear storytelling, a la Tarantino. At times the film jumps back and forth between day and night scenes, and certain events are seen from characters' points of view half an hour or more apart. It can get a bit confusing at times, but it keeps things interesting and reminds us that the different actors are experiencing the same events in very different ways.
Though very different from the grandeur of Saving Private Ryan or the sweeping scale of Patton, Dunkirk easily belongs in the same class as those masterpieces. It's another hit in Nolan's unbroken string of home runs, and proof that you really can do more with less.