A rich tapestry of sight and sound

Rating: 9/10 (22 July 2017)

There are those that will attend Christopher Nolan's new World War II film DUNKIRK expecting to see this year's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN or HACKSAW RIDGE. You know, the kind of visceral, blood and guts, shaky- cam, true-to-life experience that modern movie audiences have come to expect from war movies.
These people will, more than likely, come away from DUNKIRK disappointed for that is NOT what this film is.
What this film IS is another reinterpretation of a genre film from the modern master of reinterpretation - Christopher Nolan. His war movie tells the story of the 400,000 soldiers that are left stranded on the shores of Dunkirk - with no means to escape across the English Channel - at the beginning of WWII. This is a defeated army that is just trying to survive and that is what this film about - nameless/faceless soldiers just trying to survive.
As such, there is no real hero amongst these soldiers. They are all young men (boys, really) who just want to go home. Their struggles are real and realistic - which will, probably, alienate the jingoistic members of the audience. There really is no "good guy" to root for and Nolan, wisely, keeps the German forces off the screen. They are just as nameless/faceless as these troops on the beach.
As often happens in Nolan's films, there are multiple story lines intersecting each other's with timelines overlapping and doubling over each other. In addition to the story of the troops on the beach, there is the story of the Armanda of civilian vessels that are crossing the channel to rescue the troops. This part of the story is anchored by the always watchable Mark Rylance as a resilient civilian who will not waver from his assigned duty. The third leg of this stool is Nolan regular Tom Hardy as a fighter pilot who is trying to keep the air clear of enemy fighters to give the Armada time.
These interlocking stories are told almost as a silent film. There is precious little dialogue and Nolan decides to "show", not "tell" what is happening - and this is a wise decision - as the Cinematography, from Hoyte Van Hotyema (who also was the Cinematographer in Nolan's INTERSTELLAR) is breathtaking. I saw this film in Imax with a gorgeous 70mm print and the colors and images were deep, rich and moving - I expect Academy Award nominations for Cinematography and Editing coming from this. If you get a chance to catch DUNKIRK in 70mm, I highly recommend it.
Since this is almost a silent film, the score becomes a very important element and Hans Zimmer, once again, does not disappoint. His music is driving, incessant and unnerving - adding to the tension of the troops on the beach and the efforts of those that are trying to save them.
Nolan's direction is sure handed and he has an unwavering vision that gives DUNKIRK a look and feel unlike any other war movie I have seen since, maybe, Terrence Malick's THE THIN RED LINE. If you set your sights for an experience similar to that - a rich tapestry of sights, sounds, action and acting - as opposed to a visceral, jingoistic hero- laden action/adventure then you will be in for a treat, indeed.
Letter Grade: A
9 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (ofMarquis)