Heroism amid defeat in an epic war film told on a personal level.

Rating: 10/10 (3 September 2017)

There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who love Christopher Nolan films and those who find them pretentious and tedious experiences. I'm in the former and found this film utterly brilliant. Set before the United States entered WWII, the film retells the the British defeat by the German Army at Dunkirk, where they were surrounded on all side by German forces, trapped along the shores of France and desperately trying to retreat back to England. The story unfolds almost wordlessly, following several individual stories amongst what must have been thousands of personal stories. One is of a group of infantrymen trying desperately to sneak ahead in line to get aboard a ship bound for England. Another follows one of the many civilian ships, crewed by a father and two sons, who risked all crossing the channel to bring their boys home. Another thrilling storyline follows an airman who must protect English civilians and soldiers, while watching out for German planes, all the while also watching his dwindling fuel supply. The film is incredibly suspenseful and at times terrifying, which was a bit of a surprise considering the film's PG-13 rating, but that's a big tip-of-the-hat to writer/director Nolan talents behind the camera. What struck me most about this film was how it was able to fully capture the scope of this battle, but did so by telling the the story from three very individual experiences. Time will tell, but I believe this film will one day stand amongst the like of "Paths of Glory," "The Battle of Algiers," and the other greatest war films of all time.