Dunkirk

There is always something unique about Christopher Nolan's films and his latest, Dunkirk, is no different. He takes a look at the Dunkirk evacuation from three separate parallel stories that manage to tie together in an unexpected and yet completely organic way. Beyond that, his approach to telling the story is different than most war movies in that it drops us right into the middle of the action and keeps the viewers gripped for the entirety of it's 100 minute run time. 

The story line that opens the film is one following young British soldier named Tommy (played by Fionn Whitehead) as he walks with a couple other soldiers through the town of Dunkirk, trying to salvage any supplies or water that they can when they are opened fire upon by enemy snipers. Ducking for cover, Tommy is able to escape back to the beach of Dunkirk, where he joins 300,000 other soldiers waiting to be evacuated while being picked off by German airplanes as they fly by. The Germans also drop leaflets from the sky illustrating that they surround the beach and there is no escape. Once there, Tommy meets two other young soldiers, Gibson (played by Aneurin Barnard) and Alex (played by Harry Styles) and the three of them try to figure out how to get off the beach anyway they can. Meanwhile, back in England, Mr. Dawson (played by Mark Rylance) is charged along with all the other area sailors to sail for Dunkirk to aid in the evacuation attempts. Not willing to let his boat be taken by the British Navy, Dawson sails off himself along with two young men from the village, his youngest son Peter (played by Tom Glynn-Carney) and another boy George (played by Barry Keoghan). In the air, two British fighter pilots, Farrier (played by Tom Hardy) and Collins (played by Jack Lowden), are dispatched to try and fight off the German planes bombing Dunkirk beach as well as the rescue ships in an attempt to allow the evacuation to go forth.

Christopher Nolan manages to juggle all three story lines really well and it's interesting in the way they intersect and overlap as we go from the fighter pilots duking it out into the air and then it switches to the soldiers on the ground, witnessing the same events from their perspective. This happens several times throughout the film and it was a bit jarring at first, but I was able to get into the groove of it. The film also drops us right into the action of the Dunkirk evacuation with very little pretense. The film focuses squarely on everyone trying to get the hell out of there and never once pauses for any of the usual character building scenes that can bog down films like this. Nolan keeps the film lean and forever moving forward, which I rather appreciated. I didn't need to know the life story or the hopes and dreams of Tommy or Gibson, Mr. Dawson's background or anything else with any of the other characters. I was already fully invested in these characters as we followed them through the events of the film. There are a few details here or there that come out in the course of the action, but that's it and frankly that's all we really need.

Christopher Nolan and his crew did a fantastic job recreating the Dunkirk evacuation down to the smallest of details. Everything about the film felt authentic and accurate. Granted, I am not a Dunkirk scholar but I do know a fair amount about World War II as well as Dunkirk itself (I read up on it after seeing Joe Wright's Atonement, where James McAvoy's character winds up at Dunkirk). While the main characters appear to be fictional, they do draw inspiration from real life figures, especially Mr. Dawson, who recalled real-life Dunkirk participant (and Second Officer of the Titanic) Charles Lightoller. The film strikes an interesting balance between fact and fiction where the characters are fictional but the events they interact with are actually quite accurate. It's an interesting choice by Nolan, who both wrote and directed the film, but also makes sense because it's easier to get to the emotional truth of what it felt to be there if they don't have to strictly remain true to real life figures. 

Dunkirk is a bit atypical in terms of war movies, keeping it's focus squarely on what was happening on the water, on the beach and in the air in a very straightforward way that draws in the audience in a very visceral way. With great actors, the majority of them are rather unknown makes it feel more authentic than if we were watching more well known movies stars. Overall, this is a fantastic film that was very well made with some great decisions as to how it was made and presented. I highly recommend checking it out as this could very well be one of my favorites of the year.