Nolan's interesting take on the war genre

Rating: 9/10 (3 April 2018)

To sum up this movie one only needs five words: it's a war movie. Yeah, that's it. A movie about an important operation, which saved more than 330,000 soldiers from the beaches of Dunkerque, where they were surrounded by the German.
From a technical point of view, the quality is impeccable. After all, it's a Nolan movie, so high quality was pretty much guaranteed. The movie is full of visually stunning shots (first one that comes to mind is one at the beach, at the beginning of the film, in which we can see the soldiers and where the frame is interrupted by two pillars or whatever they were; but also all the breathtaking aerial shots). I can't even begin to imagine how hard the production of the movie must have been, which I'd describe as colossal. A few "action sequences" (I don't how else to call them) are truly incredible to watch.
The structure of the plot: this is what makes this war movie unique. It follows three different perspectives (land, sea and air) with overlapping time-periods, which create a non-linear narrative. Usually a war movie follows the actions of a certain group of people throughout its entirety. This is where the only problem I had with the movie arise; I didn't have much time to empathize with any of the characters. I know it's only my problem, because caring for a certain character or characters wasn't the point, but I don't know. I guess I'm used to empathize with at least one of the characters when I watch a movie. But fine, I understand Nolan's choice and I respect it. It's not about the characters and their emotions and personalities whereas it's about their will to survive.
The cast: nothing much to say here. Acting is not the focus of the movie, but what little acting we saw was yet again impeccable. We have a few important and famous names, such as Kenneth Branagh, Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy, and they all did a very good job. We also have a good variety of new names approaching the silver screen for the first time, such as Fionn Whitehead (who's only 20!) who was extremely good in his role and Harry Styles. A highly criticized choice, but in the end, he was decent. More than decent, actually. A new career may have started.
A special mention goes to the astonishing original soundtrack, composed by Nolan's longtime partner in crime, Hans Zimmer. He WILL win the Oscar. Period. It'd be a crime if he didn't. As I've said, he has collaborated with Nolan in many of his movies, for more than a decade now, and every time he outdoes himself. His score accompanies the movie for its entire length and it adds even more tension and anxiety than the incredible images we see on the screen. Just sublime.
Overall, this isn't the best war movie ever made; or even the best Christopher Nolan has ever made. By saying this, I don't want to sound incoherent because I really, really liked the film. The only and simple explanation is that I've appreciated more his other works. Watch it if you haven't already.