Dunkirk?

Rating: 8/10 (17 October 2017)

Dunkirk is a 2017 war film written, co-produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan that portrays the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II. Taking place on the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940, trapped Allied troops await evacuation in a seemingly hopeless situation. Under air and ground cover from British and French forces, troops slowly and methodically left the beach using every serviceable naval and civilian vessel that could be found. At the end of this heroic mission, 330,000 French, British, Belgian and Dutch soldiers safely returned home. While Dunkirk, as a whole, is a splendidly shot and produced movie, it can be confusing for audience members that are not as knowledgeable about the World Wars.
From the very first scene, the audience is immersed in the war zone and senses the imminent danger the soldiers felt at the time. While watching the battleships sink and listening to the generals discussing their predicament as the perimeter shrinks, the audience feels and fears for the soldiers who can only wait on the beach and hope. While this war films lacks a lot of scenes that many war films typically have, for example, conversations about the character or their families, in a situation where soldiers do not have the opportunity to relax, these missing scenes add to the authenticity of a battle during war. Furthermore, from the use of actual battleships to the way the planes are shot out of the sky, the film closely portrays actual war events. Mr. Dawson, played by Mark Rylance, a Tony and Academy Award winning actor, even stated that he piloted his character's boat every day and listened to audio recordings at the Imperial War Museum to be true to the events and "deepen characterization." Throughout the film, the audience also does not see a lot of blood and carnage as opposed to the psychological impacts fighting and surviving has on the soldiers. Fionn Whitehead, as Tommy, and Cillian Murphy, as the Shivering Soldier, portrayed the psychological damages of the war particularly well. Overall, by presenting a very different take on a war film, Dunkirk captures the audience's attention and tells the story both simply and authentically.
In addition to authenticity, Nolan utilized an unique way to present the story by showing three different perspective with overlapping time periods: one week on land, one day at sea, and one hour in the air, to create a non-linear narrative. The obvious benefits of such a technique were the breathtaking shots at sea and of the action. This, in addition to the various camera angles, took cinematography to a completely different level, at least aesthetically. Furthermore, the soundtrack added a lot to the suspense and emotions in each and every scene. For instance, just when death seems inevitable back at the beach, the fleet of civilian ships arrive at Dunkirk, bringing the generals too tears. The almost patriotic and jubilant music brings tears of joy to the eyes of the audience as they realize that there is still hope for them to return home. Or when George was praised as a hero in the local newspaper, the audience feels glad that his dying wish was granted. From the plot to the techniques, Dunkirk was well directed and produced.
While Dunkirk was an extraordinary film, the attention put on presenting something new was distracting from the great aspects of the story. The various perspectives and overlapping time period was indeed interesting, however, it was confusing. It made learning about the characters and their significance a lot harder to locate. In addition, realizing that the three perspectives were not taking place at the same time made following the story line harder. Moreover, many scenes were repeated and instead, shown from a different perspective, ruining the suspense. The greatest drawback of this technique is the fact that the audience doesn't have enough time nor information to recognize and understand each important characters. Partly due to the lack of dialogue, not very many names were mentioned and repeated, therefore it is extremely likely for the audience to sit through the entire movie not knowing the name of the character they are watching and therefore, not connecting with that character in each scenario.
While this movie can be a bit confusing and seem implausible to some at times, the cinematography is outstanding and film is an interesting and enjoyable way to be more familiar with the World Wars, especially the evacuation at Dunkirk. Furthermore, the actors, directors, and composers all did extraordinary jobs making this piece come to life. Overall, I definitely recommend this film for audience members that love war films because it is both authentic and a great story. For the general public, I still recommend this movie for the cinematography and history, however I highly suggest that they read a brief summary online so that they may better follow and understand the plot.