Dunkirk review: Christopher Nolan delivers his tenth feature, a World War II film set around the evacuation of Dunkirk that may just be his best yet.
Dunkirk review by Paul Heath.
Dunkirk review
Christopher Nolan’s tenth feature film sees him stray from anything he’s done before in his now near two decade-long career, but there are echoes of the filmmaker’s previous work everywhere in his World War II story about the infamous evacuation of Dunkirk.
The film opens with no apologies for throwing us deep into the action. We’re positioned just off the beach in the French coastal town of Dunkirk where up to 400,000 British, French, Canadian and Belgian troops are surrounded by the German army during the battle of France.
Amongst them are a group of young personnel, including Fionn Whitehead’s British army private Tommy, who we see frantically dashing through the streets of Dunkirk, ducking stray bullets from the unseen enemy, attempting to make it to the beach to open terrain and hopefully to safety.
Dunkirk review
It is here where we are catapulted into the first of the three very different perspectives which tell Nolan’s story – land, aka ‘The Mole’, followed by the sea, and then the battleground that is the air. Very much like his previous films, Nolan uses time as a way in which to construct his opus. The scenes involving Tommy and fellow troops Alex (Harry Styles) and Gibson (Aneurin Barnard) on the ground on the beaches of Dunkirk, are set one day into the situation. It’s one week in for Mark Rylance’s able civilian sailor Mr Dawson, along with son Peter (Tom Glynn-Carney) and willing shipmate George (Barry Keoghan), and then one hour for the airborne saviours; RAF pilots Farrier (Tom Hardy) and Collins (Jack Lowden). The three separate time zones gradually converge over the course of the film’s tight 106 minutes (Nolan’s shortest since his low-budget debut Following), the film very much delivered as a strong one-sequence action set piece than character-driven epic, and one that never retreats in terms of its sheer intensity and powerful, hard-hitting subject matter.
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Dunkirk is a full immersive experience. It’s large scale, practically constructed action is fully suited to Nolan’s preferred format – the IMAX 70mm it has been delivered in, along with sensational sound created by its talented sound designers and most of all Hans Zimmer’s screeching, screaming heart-thumping soundtrack.
We review the film from this format, screened on Europe’s biggest cinema screen at the BFI IMAX.
Dunkirk review
There’s no one-thing that stands out in Dunkirk, possibly because everything on show is so impressive. The acting is top-notch- what more would you expect from the likes of Mark Rylance, Sir Kenneth Branagh and James D’Arcy, but it is the young talent who also delight. Fionn Whitehouse is tasked with carrying a lot of the land-based narrative, the young actor showing oodles of promise at the start of a sure-to-be lengthy career being stretched out ahead of him. Aneurin Barnard’s Gibson is largely silent for reasons that become more apparent as the film progresses, but he too turns in a fine turn as the terrified army private lost in a world of absolute carnage. The true surprise here is Harry Styles. His casting was initially a little baffling, but the young British musician turned actor hardly puts a foot wrong and is impressive in virtually every scene we see him in.
Tom Hardy’s involvement is largely confined to the cockpit of the Spitfire he pilots, though his role is of decent size, pivotal to the plot and as to how Nolan pieces together the narrative. His scenes also make some of the most jaw-dropping action sequences in the film – the dogfights between the Spitfires and the ‘enemy’ were done for real over the real English Channel, and show off some pretty amazing stunt work and cinematography, Nolan and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (SPECTRE) mounting their huge IMAX cameras on board these planes – something that absolutely needs to be experienced on the biggest screen possible.
Dunkirk review
Dunkirk is undoubtedly Nolan’s best film. The filmmaker shows vast range with his diversion from the sci-fi, superhero stories he’s brought to screens over the last decade, and this true-life story provides evidence that he’s absolutely one of the best filmmakers working today.
Dunkirk is also one of the best movies of the year and I’d be surprised if we weren’t still talking about the film come Oscar time next year, particularly in the technical areas like sound design, editing and for that immense Zimmer score.
Epic, truly intense, powerful, unrelenting, and so utterly British it’s have your heart thumping with pride during its closing scenes. A stunning piece of work and proof that they still do and can make ’em like they used to.
Dunkirk review by Paul Heath, July 2017.
Dunkirk is released in UK cinemas on Friday 21st July 2017.
