Christopher Nolan is one of those directors where legions of fans defend him for anything he does because The Dark Knight trilogy is what put him on the map. But, the question arise is whether or not he belongs on a level where we can highlight him as a legendary director. He is definitely in Tier 1 with Denis Villeneuve, Quentin Tarantino and Ridley Scott. But, he has not on the level of Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese or Stanley Kubrick just yet. He has to make a couple of different genre pictures like a comedy or a dark romance. Dr. Strangelove is a spoof comedy of a war. I'm just saying. However, Nolan is still a great director and he is definitely one of the best working today and now he has gone out of his comfort zone from his science fiction and superhero films, he has chosen to make a movie of real event in a battle during World War II. Was this the right call? It is most certainly the right call for inserting his cinematic techniques and drama into an event about survival and hope.
The movie's narrative covers three periods of time in which all three spend time on the sea, on the land and in the air.
On land, Tommy (Fionn Whitehead), a young British Army private, has made it to the beach after German soldiers have attacked he and his group of soldiers by gunfire on the streets of Dunkirk. He finds British and allied troops that are staged for evacuation. He meets Gibson (Aneurin Barnard) and they help out a wounded man left for dead as they rush his stretcher onto the departing vessel for the wounded. The two are denied entry to the boat themselves and later, they sneak onto another vessel but it gets attacked by the German airplanes. They save another soldier, Alex (Harry Styles) and the three try to find another ship to go home.
On the sea, the Royal Navy has initiated the private boats to commandeer the evacuation. Mr. Dawson (Mark Rylance) volunteers without hesitation along with his son, Peter (Tom Glynn-Carney) and his teenage friend, George (Barry Keoghan), who wants to be useful. They encounter a shivering soldier who has PTSD problems (Cillian Murphy) and take him aboard. When he learns that Dawson is heading for Dunkirk, the soldier is against his decision. He still continues head for France.
In the air, three Spitfire pilots - Farrier, Collins (Tom Hardy and Jack Lowden) and their squadron leader - are across the English Channel to provide air support down on land and the sea. However, they encounter a Luftwaffe plane and try to take it down as it provides problems for soldiers who have to wait to get evacuated.
I will understand that people will dislike this movie but I hope it's for the reasons that I will understand. Because the movie is marketed as a typical war movie, you have to see it in Christopher Nolan's mind and I went to this movie with that intent.
Here's the quote:
The empathy for the characters has nothing to do with their story. I did not want to go through the dialogue, tell the story of my characters… The problem is not who they are, who they pretend to be or where they come from. The only question I was interested in was: Will they get out of it? Will they be killed by the next bomb while trying to join the mole? Or will they be crushed by a boat while crossing?
— Christopher Nolan on the main purpose of the filmYou have to realize that this is an experiential war film but it is also an event that could have easily changed the outcome for Britain and other nations for the worse during World War II. This is basically an example of The Thin Red Line, a Terrence Malick movie that I thought was good but not great because Malick used interior monologues from soldiers that was distracting than unique and poetic. But, Nolan used a nonlinear narrative in this movie and I thought that technique was a gutsy movie and I understand why he did it. This whole event from the perspective of a soldier in that time is chaotic because all they want to achieve is getting home. However, chaos surrounds them because they are repeatedly attacked by German soldiers. It is every man for themselves. It is a race against time and from the perspective of a soldier and also from Nolan's perspective, you do not have time to get to know the characters and their backstories. They are constantly in peril and war is unpredictable. And, because it is a race against time, the movie unfolds in the last sequence beautifully. Remember, it is not a fictional war movie, it is a true dramatic story about an evacuation during a war.
I use an example of a great movie that depicts a chaotic and sad event, United 93. It is another great achievement from director Paul Greengrass. But, again, we witness that the passengers know that the World Trade Center towers are attacked by terrorists and they are hostages under the same faction of terrorists that have a hand in this attack. They know they are in peril and we know that the tower control center are doing their jobs even though they are also panicking. We and they do not have time to meet one another and go through their backstories. The soldiers in Dunkirk are doing their duty while they are panicking in this movie.
Even though we do know that there is not lead character that we follow that represent the emotional drive of the movie, all the characters represent one character of a myriad of emotions from hopeful to scared. This chapter of history is a myriad of emotions. The most emotional performance and the standout was Mark Rylance where he is determined to get the soldiers home. But, there is tension surrounding a sequence that had to do with the oil and also getting the boat started that I cannot give away. Tom Hardy is not in the movie that much as he has very few lines and is behind a mask once again. But, he is good. Kenneth Branagh is great as the commander. The young performers, Fionn Whitehead, Jack Lowden and Harry Styles are pretty good. (Yes, One Direction fans. Harry can act.)
Is this my favorite Christopher Nolan movie? No. Is it a war classic? Not right now. Is it in the conversation of being one of the best war movies ever made? Maybe. Time will tell. In the ranking of Nolan movies, it is in the middle, probably 5th or 6th. I think The Dark Knight, Inception and Memento are masterpieces. But, this is probably his monumental achievement of technical detail of staging an event like a documentary. He does not throw in hokey dialogue or a manipulative backstory. He substitutes in Hans Zimmer's fantastic score (he will be nominated for Best Score once again) for dialogue. There is minimal dialogue that seems like soldiers making small talk or receiving and giving orders. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema creates a moody atmosphere of epic proportions that felt like a film reel of the history of Operation Dynamo in the beginning of World War II. The editing by Lee Smith is quite fluid with the chaos and tension going on.
But, the bottom line is that this is one of the best movies of 2017. I know fans of war films will go into expecting a character-driven, straight-forward and emotional war movie. You'll get emotional, yes, but you need to know Nolan as a filmmaker and the best examples of his nonlinear storytelling are Memento and Interstellar. Memento is using an amensiac's perspective, Interstellar is using relativity from going back and forth in the second half. With Dunkirk, he is using spectacle and other soldiers' duties from three perspectives as detailed as possible the chronicle the entire event of the Dunkirk evacuation. And, I think it works. You will not get a straight-forward movie here but you will be amazed by the horrors and you acknowledge the soldiers' sacrifice and the civilians' duty. All will be heroes in the end and will be among another chapter in history.
****
Comments
Post a Comment