Dunkirk
I kind of have a love-hate relationship with war movies. I loved Saving Private Ryan, but not because of the grisly action and intense scenes of war, but for the way it portrays humanity in its most trying times – even when it is sometimes so hard to watch. We Were Soldiers is another great war movie, but another that is hard for me to rewatch, as these sorts of films should be. Dunkirk is the shockingly true story of the rescue of more than 300,000 British and French soldiers but is told quite vividly by Christopher Nolan – falling into the same category as others that portray a dark time that is WW2.
To be honest, I was a little skeptical with this being a war movie and it being rated PG-13. No, not because I wanted to see blood/gore or f-bombs (he had to max out as many as he could for a PG-13 rating), but because I just don’t know how well you can portray war without getting grisly and deep enough to earn an “R” rating. But I forgot one thing – we are talking about Christopher Nolan. The movie was visceral, grisly, and as shocking as any other war movie I have seen without truly showing some of the more gruesome brutalities of war, though still showing how rough these times really were.
As per usual, Nolan does a fantastic job blending numerous stories together to ultimately tell the story in a big picture. He covers the events from three different viewpoints of different characters each fighting different battle for the same goal: survival. It tells the story from the air, land, and sea, showing his star power and main characters in Tom Hardy, Fionn Whitehead, Mark Rylance, Barry Keoghan, and even some small pieces from Harry Styles and Cillian Murphy. Though some of the bigger names in Hardy and Murphy do less than others, the cast really did a phenomenal job from start to finish.
Now, with all these great performances, stunning visuals as always, and even the insane amount of realism and grit that we got from this courageous story, I like to always dig around and analyze to see what could have been better, where things may have been murky, etc. I am a huge fan of Nolan, so it is hard for me to nitpick and find error in his films, though here, there may have been some moments of confusion with the story jumps. I felt that at times, you had to really keep your head on a swivel to make sure you catch all the small jumps or pieces in the different storylines. Aside from that, the only other flaw I felt was that it did feel a little rushed at points. I think that we didn’t get a good amount of time with Rylance and Keoghan, feeling that their scenes, though tragic and courageous, felt like they needed more time. In all honesty, I felt that all the characters needed some more time to “cook” if you will, as Dunkirk registers as Nolan’s shortest film to date (106 minutes).
Nonetheless, this movie is still an absolute marvel and pulls no punches when it comes to Nolan’s signature use of practical shots rather than digital effects. Each scene holds you emotionally hostage, cheering and hoping our brave characters reach the only goal you can have in these grisly times: survival. Nolan’s knack for stunning visuals is nothing more than spectacular and as he went a more visceral route, I felt that the dark tones that showed glimpses of light and heart were perfectly balanced throughout. I thought that Dunkirk did a fine job telling the story that showcases heroism and courage, and that even in our darkest times, humanity always seems to shine through.
4.1/5