Dunkirk

Dunkirk

Starring Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy

Directed by Christopher Nolan

The Story:
"Dunkirk" tells the true-life story of the most harrowing rescue in World War II.  The Nazis have invaded and the allied soldiers have retreated to the shores of Dunkirk, where they're severely outmanned, outgunned and out of options.  The film splits into three narratives, taking place at the same area but in different time frames.

On land, lasting one week, we follow the story of three soldiers (Fionn Whitehead, Aneurin Barnard and Harry Styles) who struggle to survive the attack by Nazis by boat, plane and land.  At sea, lasting one day, civilian boater Mr. Dawson (Mark Rylance) travels the Channel with other local boaters to help rescue the men stuck at Dunkirk, picking up a downed captain (Cillian Murphy) on the way, as he struggles with going back to the war.  In the air, lasting one hour, fighter pilots (Tom Hardy and Jack Lowden) take on Nazi pilots in order to protect the soldiers stranded at Dunkirk.

The Synopsis:
There's a lot to be said about a director who chooses to take risks.  With big risks come big challenges, but also possibly big rewards.  If a director plays it safe and follows the lines of the coloring book, it could end up looking good, but without the originality and specialty, it would be easily forgotten among the annals of cinematic history. 

Christopher Nolan is a revolutionary director, one of the best of our time.  He's proven he's not afraid to shy away from mind-bending masterpieces ("Memento," "The Prestige," "Interstellar," "Inception") nor is he afraid to take on a decades-old character we've known and loved and turn him into something even greater than possibly imagined ("The Dark Knight" trilogy).  Now he takes a well-known event during World War II and once again chooses to color outside the lines, producing his most adventurous work to date, one that is wholly unique, and wholly Christopher Nolan.

When I found that the film was only an hour and forty minutes, I was worried that it would be bogged down by sentimentality and pointless dialogue (fun fact: the film's screenplay was only 76 pages) and a slow liftoff.  Thankfully, none of that happened, as the film begins right in the thick of things, with soldiers running for their lives across a picturesque small town as they're being gunned down by unseen enemies.  From start to finish, we're a part of the Dunkirk evacuation, as Nolan never takes us away from the action or the suspense as, to steal a phrase, all roads lead to Dunkirk.

Nolan - never afraid to test the boundaries of time - splits the film into three aspects, drawing from three distinctly different viewpoints of the rescue, and three differing aspects of time.  On land, Nolan describes the events that happen within a week, as the soldiers struggle to survive.  This is told through the eyes of three soldiers who hardly utter a word, and whose names we really don't learn (or if they mention them, I don't remember because it's not as important as the story that's being told).  While there's not a whole lot of action, when it hits the fan, it hits it hard, and we see these soldiers swim for their lives as Nazis bombard the shore with bombs from their aircraft, as well as torpedoes from the water.  We are the fourth soldier here, as we feel the fear, anticipation and desperation that the soldiers felt.  On a side note, Nolan cast Harry Styles (known for being a member of the boy band One Direction) without knowing how famous Styles really was.

At sea, Nolan tells a one day story of civilians who set sail across the Channel to save their trapped soldiers.  This is the story that hits closest to home for us, as most of us aren't soldiers and wonder what we would do in a situation like this - would we sail into certain doom and possible death in order to save strangers, or would we sit at home and let someone else do it?  Here Mark Rylance (Oscar winner for his Cold War epic "Bridge of Spies") shows bravery beyond measure as he doesn't just allow the soldiers to command his boat - but instead sets sail himself.  Cillian Murphy plays a captain who loses his ship to a U-boat attack, and loses his mind in the process.  When he learns they're going back to Dunkirk, he goes insane due to his shell-shocked thinking.  Barry Keoghan plays George, a young boy who wants to make a difference in the war and goes with the sailor, and truly becomes a hero.  We learn more names here than in the other stories, and that's not by accident - it helps us identify with them more and become more invested in their plight because they play the part of the everyman in this epic tale.

In the air, there's a one hour story of two British pilots who try to shoot down Nazi pilots before they reach the soldiers at Dunkirk.  This is Tom Hardy's time to shine, and even though he only has ten lines of dialogue, he comes across as a huge hero in the film due to the fact that his plane's gas gauge is damaged and he doesn't know how much fuel he has, yet he continues to fight the Nazis to protect the soldiers on the ground.  This is the most exciting tale as the planes fly over the sea and engage in fierce, fiery combat in the skies.  Again, the filming style makes us feel like we're in the cockpit with Hardy, which adds to the excitement and danger.

Even though the film separates into these three viewpoints, Nolan finds a way to unite them in a way that's truly magical, in a way that makes you go back and piece together each section as the parts of a huge puzzle, which Nolan pieces together to form a Picasso-style masterpiece.  He's the king of time manipulation, allowing you to forget the bigger picture until it hits you with full force, and you realize just how inventive, creative, and downright magical the film is.

"Dunkirk" is a masterpiece just by the unique storytelling, events, and acting, but it's only heightened by Hans Zimmer's score, which resonates so deep it affects the body, with rousing choruses, frantic ticks of a timepiece, and boisterous tubas that will undoubtedly earn him another Oscar nomination.  On top of that, the sound mixing and editing should earn an Oscar nomination as well, as the sound effects help throw us into the midst of battle, most notably the aerial battles with whizzing bullets and sputtering engines.  Nolan has always made great use of sound, and "Dunkirk" is his crowning achievement.

The Summary:
When you combine a visionary director, a truly unique way of telling a story, practical effects, minimalist dialogue, a rousing musical score and a true-life rescue, you've got a one-of-a-kind spectacle that causes you to be emotional in a way that doesn't come off as forced or manipulated, but in a way that comes from the innermost part of you.  That is what "Dunkirk" offers.

The Score: A+