Breathtaking and Brilliant, Nolan Changes the Formula of War Films with Dunkirk

By Avik Basak

Have you ever watched a war film, where you felt you were right there on the battlefield with the soldiers and felt the same sense of uncertainty that they are going through on the screen? You may have but what Christopher Nolan’s latest, Dunkirk provides you with is truly a unique experience. A tale of time bending struggle from the perspective of different characters in different situations, weaved through a common notion of survival make this one of the best movies ever made in the genre.

It opens in the French commune of Dunkirk and recounts the events of Operation Dynamo that resulted in one of the biggest military evacuations in the history of mankind. Nolan fills the story with characters who have no or little back stories yet somehow make the audience care for what happens to them. The most beautiful thing about the movie is that it is set in the moment and is about the people who were actually out there facing annihilation. It does not feature big speeches from politicians or generals to set the stage for an epic, a formula of war films championed by the Hollywood studios. On the contrary, it consists of minimum dialogue which really helps sustain the suspense for its 1 hour and 47 minutes long runtime.

There are so many things in Dunkirk that you do not see in a typical war film. While the great epics like Saving Private Ryan and Enemy at the Gates relied on violence to portray the horror of war, there is barely any sight of blood in this one. Moreover, Nolan opts not to show any German soldier to imply that the war itself is a villain, which is also rare in a war movie.

Nolan chose to cast newcomers and little-known actors like Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Aneurin Barnard, Barry Keoghan and One Direction singer Harry Styles (in his acting debut) in crucial roles and they do not disappoint us. The same can be said about the experienced campaigners too. While Kenneth Branagh and James D’Arcy do well in their small parts, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy and Mark Rylance give the picture a different emotional dimension.

Nolan brings all his experience and knowledge of filmmaking into this movie and makes this a celebration of the art. The screenplay, which he wrote himself, is his best contribution here apart from his duties behind the camera. The way he interlaced the three narratives with different durations together was no short of a master stroke.

Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema takes full advantage of the IMAX cameras and gives the film a depth and colour-scheme that it deserved. The movie is extremely well edited by Lee Smith, who is just brilliant in entering cuts at crucial points to balance the intensity of the narrative. Production designer Nathan Crowley and costume designer Jeffrey Kurland are also brilliant and do not put a step wrong but it is Hans Zimmer who deserves a special mention as Dunkirk would not have been the same without his magnificent background score. The musical maestro is known to form a lethal combination with Nolan in the latter’s all the recent films but here he just flies from the very start.

Overall, Dunkirk is a movie that gives its audience sheer joy with a breathtaking experience. It is one of those rare pictures, where you cannot find any flaws or slip ups. It is unmissable for a film enthusiast.

5 Stars Out of 5 From Me…