A failed experiment

Rating: 1/10 (21 July 2017)

Dunkirk is drastically different from any WWII movie I've seen. It's Nolan's bold experiment in exploring novel ways to tell stories from WWII. While his attempt was admirable, I felt extremely disappointed after seeing the movie. Nolan spent no time on developing the characters or telling stories, but instead fabricated a complex movie structure. Some may say that Nolan is intentionally keeping the story simple so that the fear and anxiety on that day can be better conveyed to the audience. However, the intricate time line setting constantly distracts people from the scene and makes me wonder whether he is trying to tell a story or showing off his wild imagination.
If one just looks at the story line of the soldiers, he or she may think the movie is a documentary. The protagonist has almost no lines while constantly trying to escape from the beach of Dunkirk. We all understand the cruelty of war and don't need to spend nearly 2 hours in watching a coward running to learn that. Nolan's flat story telling style is a disaster and is the biggest barrier lying between the movie screen and the audiences. Just before I was almost convinced that this was a documentary, the romantic depiction of the fighter pilot pulled me back to thinking it was still a Hollywood movie. The fighter jets didn't miss a single enemy and safely touched down on the sea and beach. Wait Nolan, I thought you were going to tell us Dunkirk was a total disaster. Why suddenly you switched to this romantic depiction of war heros and hope?
When I saw the civilian boat leaving the harbor, I thought the main character would be the old gentlemen on the little sail boat. However, all he did was pulling a bunch of soldiers from the sea and navigate the boat through the war zone. The pivotal civilian fleets and common English men who changed the course of the WWII were not at all emphasized in the movie, given no more than 1/3 of the screen at maximum.
The purpose of a movie like this is either telling a story or expressing some kind of emotion or a combination of the two. Nolan hasn't done either as there are no developed plot or characterers. I guess he was betting his novel three-stranded story telling would compensate for the weakness. But I have to say it's a failed experiment and does not deserve any higher score than 5 on IMDb.