'Dunkirk' Review

Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Director; Christopher Nolan, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Original Score.

Won: Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.

The year is 1940 and Allied forces fighting in World War II have been driven back to the beaches of Dunkirk. The Germans have the British and French soldiers surrounded and the only hope of survival is an impossible escape. That's the dire circumstances our heroes find themselves in at the start of Dunkirk. Dunkirk then depicts the attempted evacuation of over 300,000 men by land, sea, and air.

Dunkirk is written and directed by auteur filmmaker Christopher Nolan, a man whose work's powerful enough to speak for itself. You're probably familiar with Nolan's other highly regarded films such as Inception, Interstellar, and The Dark Knight Trilogy, but you may not know that Nolan has yet to be nominated in the category of "Best Director" at the annual Academy Awards, or even win an Oscar for that matter (although he's received nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay and his films have faired well in the technical categories with a number of wins). 

Well, that's all about to change because there's absolutely no way the Academy would dare snub his work displayed in Dunkirk. While we still have a ways to go in regards to awards season, and it's a little early to speculate, I have yet to see any formidable competition arise. Dunkirk marks Nolan's first foray into the war genre and his experience with a big budget and practical effects carried over quite nicely. Nolan is accustomed putting his own spin on all his productions, and Dunkirk is no exception because Dunkirk is unlike any war film I've ever seen.

In Dunkirk, emphasis is placed on the event rather than the characters. You don't get the opportunity to know these heroes because Nolan thrusts the audience straight into the ensuing chaos. Dunkirk represents a glimpse of the events "in-the-moment" and I must say, I was enraptured from the get-go. There's no time to sit around the fire and talk about what's waiting back home because this is a struggle-for-survival. Time is of the essence for these soldiers and nothing communicates that better than a ticking timepiece, which Hans Zimmer impressively embedded into his swirling, epic score. Nolan then ensures that everything ranging from shot composition-to-an actor's expression conveys a sense of urgency to match Zimmer's harmonic pulses and it all culminates in a heart-pounding pressure cooker.

Dunkirk is probably the most expensive and authentic recreation of said-evacuation that divides its focus among three interwoven chapters, despite the fact each takes place at a different point in time;

1. The Mole, One Week.

2. The Sea, One Day.    

3. The Air, One Hour.    

Eventually, all of these ongoing events overlap and there are certainly some interesting intersections which your eyes will be more attuned to after an initial viewing. You'll find yourself thinking "Haven't I seen that already?" upon realizing the chapter title cards signified the location and duration of each chapter. On that note, it's worth mention that the dictionary defines a mole as a large solid structure on a shore serving as a pier, breakwater, or causeway (but there's also an underlying double-meaning that you should be able to wrap your mind around if you pay enough attention).

Occasionally the same events are shown a second or third time from one of the other primary perspectives and in an ordinary war-film that might wear the viewer down. However, this is Nolan we're talking about, and only a director with Nolan's skill and attention to detail is capable of captivating audiences with an intense inter-weaving of three different accounts. Even though Nolan is depicting the same event three times from a different perspective, he manages to integrate an overwhelming intensity that carries over nicely when he transitions among the tri-arched chronology. 

The performances across the board are certainly good, but are admittedly handicapped by Nolan's narrative. Nolan extrapolates some exceptional acting from his cast but I'll be honest in saying I had a hard time pinpointing particular stand-outs. The acting is largely reactionary and while the actors' work is commendable, no single performer blew me away. Fionn Whitehead, Aneurin Barnard, and Harry Styles showcased a surprising amount of range as the soldiers headlining the mole chapter, but none of them aren't offered enough character exploration for you to be entirely invested in the men-at-arms. Nolan has gone on the record comparing the casting of Styles to his decision to have Heath Ledger portray the Joker, but I'll go ahead and set the record straight that his performance is good, but nowhere near the leagues of Ledger's legendary turn. Familiar faces consisting of Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy, Kenneth Branagh, and James D'Arcy are also to be found among the ensemble and each actor carried their weight well.

Elsewhere, Tom Hardy once again finds his face obstructed by some sort of mask in Dunkirk and I did find it difficult to interpret exactly what he was saying on occasion. However, Hardy did a tremendous job expressing himself with essentially only his eyes. If you thought some frequent Nolan collaborators were missing from my breakdown of the performances, then listen carefully for Michael Caine's voice as it turns up once in the film's first act. 

Dunkirk is one of the year's most meticulously made movies that's undoubtedly elevated by the IMAX format. Nolan makes good use of the enormous screen's full aspect ratio and the spectacular sound design really explodes in IMAX's thunderous sound system. The heftier ticket price of an IMAX screening is certainly worth it and if you only plan on seeing Dunkirk only once, I'd go with the IMAX experience. However, the 70 MM print is also not to be missed for cinema enthusiasts as it was quite cool to see something projected on actual film opposed to the standard digital projection found in most theaters today. If you're curious, I saw Dunkirk in 70MM for my first go-around and my second viewing was in IMAX. I'd personally advise you to do the same because there's a lot you'll pick up on that you may not have noticed the first time around. But if you have to choose, pick IMAX.

In conclusion, Dunkirk is an exceptional example of why I found filmmaking so fascinating in the first place. In the hands of a less-capable artist, the events at Dunkirk would have probably come across as boring or generic, but Nolan's insistence to tell this story through unconventional means enables an intense, immersive experience you'd be hard-pressed to emulate or liken to anything else.

Film Assessment: A