The Unknown Soldiers

Rating: 9/10 (28 July 2017)

This film left me speechless and I found myself left alone with the titles and Zimmermann as all the other members of the audience had left the cinema. Contrary to what others have said the music was the star of the show. It sometimes intruded as far as it actually told the narrative, but Zimmer's score underlined and reinforced the emotions to an even higher level. Despite desperate scenes of terror, most of the most white knuckle moments were more individual and close camera, like being trapped in a box. The fact that many of the characters were not given names meant that they came to represent thousands of others who shared the same fate, a sort of mass Unknown Soldier. The theme of the movies is Getting Home and how and if that would happen and what sort of a welcome awaits you. The high point of the movie when this possibility moves from hopeless to possible, is underscored by a remarkable synthesis of music and environmental sounds as Elgar's Nimrod gradually appears through the mists and for a brief instance the White Cliffs loom in the memory on the horizon. This wonderful music ebbs and flows like the tides of hope. Nolan's use of real planes and boats wherever possible gives this movie intimate credibility, and his general avoidance of CGI extravaganza makes it both more believable and more personal.