An all new cinematic experience, delivered by none other than Nolan

Rating: 10/10 (1 August 2017)

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
For his latest big budget, big spectacle cinematic experience, Christopher Nolan has taken his first foray into the world of a war film, rather than the sci-fi/fantasy flicks he's been known for in recent years. And yet, in his desperate quest to push the boundaries of conventional filmmaking, on this occasion he's produced a film that doesn't actually have any discernible plot to speak of, and is based entirely around the plight of a situation a group of disparate men from different sides of the Allied front during the titular battle. This is a film based entirely in the unfolding moment of the here and now, and his distinctive style has never been more tightly stamped on anything he's made. It may leave some wondering if he was the right director for the project, and how it could have panned out in the hands of someone with a more traditional approach to a war film, say, Steven Spielberg with Saving Private Ryan, but this only serves to highlight how this is an all new filmic experience in its own right.
We open in a scene completely drowned of any dialogue, completely soaked up in atmosphere, punctuated by a harsh, drained camera lens and reinforced by a typically heavy score from long time Nolan collaborator Hans Zimmer. The immediacy of the moment is captured quite magically, in spite of the lack of superficial things, and the feeling of being an average soldier in the middle of the unfolding fear and madness is feels as real as you can imagine. In focusing on being in the moment, and not on the characters as individuals, yes, Nolan does drown out some sense of character development and emotional investment, but this is further evidence of the films experimental style, asking you to be moved by the immediate plight of the protagonists, rather than the inner battles each respective person is fighting.
Once again, an all star cast has been rounded up, including former One Direction star Harry Styles, as well as the likes of Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance, although in roles that don't mark any of them down in any individual way. Later on in the film, Nolan also unleashes some of the most breath-taking cinematography he's ever delivered us, over the seas and over the cliffs, almost as magical and majestical as flying over these places for real (but under different circumstances.) In spite of the minimal characterization, there's still a genuine sense of peril and tension of characters during danger sequences, in tightly confined quarters and with time racing against the affected party.
Nolan is a director who refuses to do things by half, or in a way that an audience expects or can even comprehend, and while it may overwhelm many, it can be beautifully appreciated by those who look beyond the surface, and absorb a new filmic style. *****