Dunkirk

Rating: 8/10 (29 July 2017)

I saw the teaser trailer for this war movie a couple of months before its release, I was most excited to see it, from Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated director Christopher Nolan (Memento, Insomnia, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception). Basically set during World War II, the film follows three interwoven different time periods: on land covering one week, at sea covering one day, and in the air covering one hour, all at the time of the Dunkirk evacuation. i. The Mole - young private Tommy (Fionn Whitehead), is one of several soldiers coming under fire from unseen German soldiers on the streets of Dunkirk, he finds British and allied troops on the beach staged for evacuation, he meets young soldier Gibson (Aneurin Barnard). A ship evacuating the wounded is attacked during departure, Tommy and Gibson save soldier Alex (introducing One Direction's Harry Styles) from being crushed by the sinking ship, they get on another boat, but it is sunk by a U- boat torpedo, Gibson saves Tommy and Alex and they make their way to shore. Commander Bolton (Kenneth Branagh) and Colonel Winnant (James D'Arcy) discuss the situation; the Prime Minister will not be "making terms" and has committed to evacuating 30,000 soldiers, smaller civilian vessels have been requisitioned in order to evacuate. The next day, they join a group of Scottish soldiers on a fishing trawler, they hide in it hoping to evacuate, a Dutch man takes refuge and tells them German soldiers are outside. The Germans shoot at the boat for target practise, unaware soldiers are sheltered inside, it is impossible for the boat to stay afloat with the bullet holes in the hull. Gibson is accused by Alex of being a German spy, Tommy defends him, but Gibson confesses to being French and stealing a British soldier identity, as the ship sinks, Gibson gets tangled in a chain and drowns, a nearby minesweeper is sunk by a German bomber. The boat of Mr. Dawson (Mark Rylance) arrives and takes many soldiers aboard, rescuing them from burning in oil slick, several of the others are killed in the fire, they cross the Channel and reach Dorset, Alex and Tommy are among other soldiers on a train, they receive a British heroes' welcome. Commander Bolton watches the last British soldiers evacuated from Dunkirk, 300,000 soldiers are confirmed evacuated, ten times the number they had hoped. ii. The Sea - the Royal Navy are commandeering private boats for the evacuation, Mr. Dawson cooperates without question, but he and his son Peter (Tom Glynn-Carney) take the boat out themselves, rather than let the navy take it, their teenage hand George (Barry Keoghan) also joins, hoping to do something noteworthy. As they continue towards Dunkirk, three Supermarine Spitfires fly overhead, then they encounter and take aboard a Shivering Soldier (Cillian Murphy), he is the sole survivor of a U-boat attack. The soldier discovers that Dawson is sailing for Dunkirk rather than returning to England, the soldier scuffles with George trying to get Dawson to turn back, George falls and takes a severe blow to the head, Peter treats his wounds as best as he can, Dawson is duty-bound to aid the evacuation and continues towards France. They see a Spitfire plane crash in the ocean, pilot Collins (Jack Lowden) is pulled from the plane by Dawson's crew as it sinks. They encounter a minesweeper under attack by a German bomber and accompanying fighter planes, they manoeuvre through weapons firing to take troops fleeing the damaged ship, they narrowly get clear as the spilling oil is ignited. Dawson and his crew pull as many survivors that can fit, including Alex and Tommy, George is revealed to be dead, Peter takes pity on the shell-shocked soldier and assures him George will be fine. In Dorset, Dawson is congratulated for saving the number of men he has, George's body is carried away, the soldier sees this before he leaves and boards the train, sitting in a compartment with Alex and Tommy, Peter takes a photograph of George, he is reported in a newspaper as a youthful hero. iii. The Air - in the air are three Spitfire pilots: Farrier (Tom Hardy), Collins, and their squadron leader (Sir Michael Caine), they are crossing the English Channel to provide air support to the troops waiting at Dunkirk, with instructions for how much fuel they can use before needing to return. Farrier's fuel gauge malfunctions, nevertheless he continues onwards, they encounter a Luftwaffe plane, which shoots down the squadron leader, Farrier assumes command as they continue toward France. They successfully take down an enemy plane, but Collins' plane is damaged, forcing him to crash land into the Channel, Farrier is unsure of his final fate. Farrier continues alone, he switches to reserve fuel, having burned his entire ration in manoeuvres with enemy planes, as he flies overhead he witnesses the minesweeper destroyed and Tommy and Alex's boat sinking. Farrier finally reaches Dunkirk, where enemies are bombarding, and evacuation efforts are being made, he saves the ships and troops taking down the bomber. Farrier flies over the beach and boosts the morale of the soldiers, they clap and cheer for him, out of fuel he glides for landing on the beach, barely cranking the landing gear in time, he is grounded beyond the Allied perimeter, after setting his plane fire, he is taken prisoner by the Germans. Also starring Will Attenborough, Richard's grandson as Second Lieutenant. The performances by such talents as Hardy, Branagh, Rylance and Murphy are all terrific, if you imagined Pulp Fiction, but as a war movie, that should give you an idea of what this is like, the narrative is non-linear, the audience is expected to keep up with the three perspective threads, it makes it all the more interesting, and it adds to the feeling of distortion and trauma experienced in war, of course the action is very engaging also, a most worthwhile Second World War drama. It won the Oscars for Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing, and it was nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Original Score for Hans Zimmer, Best Cinematography and Best Production Design, it won the BAFTA for Best Sound, and it was nominated for Best Film, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Original Music, Best Cinematography and Best Special Visual Effects, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Drama and Best Original Score. Very good!