My Review:
Dunkirk is unlike any conventional war movie of the last 20 years. It's not about fighting, wining, losing, or dying. It's about escaping. Christopher Nolant delivers a truly cinematic experience in his tenth feature about the British Army's evacuation of Dunkirk. A film like Dunkirk does necessarily impress from the script. Instead it can only achieve its true potential in the vision of a director able to coalesce all the elements of film-making together in perfect harmony. Throughout the film we are confronted with haunting images of man's incapacity against steel and fire. Sharp-sounding artillery that makes us jump off our seat. A pulsing score by Hans Zimmer that falls and rises to the beats of suspense. Even its dialog is sparse and minimalist. Tommy, the character whom we follow the most (played by Fionn Whitehead) doesn't speak a word until halfway through. And then hardly any.
Perhaps what impressed me the most of Dunkirk is it's classically inspired editing. Three converging story-lines - the men on the beaches of Dunkirk, the pleasure yacht Moonstone, and the fighter pilots over the English Channel - alternate seamlessly (for the most part) through the film, accompanied by fast cuts at the moments of most tension. This is reminiscent of the similar structure and technique used in Dr. Strangelove. Where Dunkirk diverges, however, is in it's treatment of time. Well into the action we find out that transverses at different rates: a week in Drunkirk, a day in the yacht, an hour in the sky.
Dunkirk is a film with hardly any flaws. The sharp and astute movie-goer may notice some repetitive elements. We think our characters are safe, but then Kenneth Branagh casts a somber look towards the heavens as the score intensifies, only to find out our characters aren't safe after all. This sequence is repeated a few times. Same with the air fighting scenes that may drag a few seconds longer than they should. The different time frames between the three story-lines may also cause some confusion at first, but the movie does a great job at getting you back on track.
Despite all this, the suspense is so enthralling, the stakes so high, that we easily forgive the few imperfections that Dunkirk hands us. It is the best film I've seen all summer, and no doubt one of the best of the year.
Score: 9/10
Title: Dunkirk
Writer/Director: Christopher Nolan
Main Cast:
Fionn Whitehead
Tom Glynn-Carney
Jack Lowden
Harry Styles
Aneurin Barnard
James D'Arcy
Kenneth Branagh
Cillian Murphy
Mark Rylance
Tom Hardy
Release Date: 21 July 2017 (UK / US)
Running Time: 107 minutes
Comments
Post a Comment