Dunkirk
5 stars
Director: Christopher Nolan
Stars: Fionn Whitehead, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh
Duration: 106 mins
Class: 12
KRS Releasing Ltd
When Tommy (Fionn Whitehead), a young British private, comes under fire from German troops on the streets of Dunkirk, he manages to make his way to ostensible safety as he reaches the beach… where over 400,000 British and Allied troops are amassed awaiting evacuation. With the sea on one side of them and the enemy inexorably closing in around them, it will take a massive rescue effort – not to say a miracle – to get them all safely home to Britain.
Dunkirk features fictional characters within an all-too-true story; and writer/ director Christopher Nolan offers a first-hand account of the experience of the evacuation. It is told from three different perspectives, each of which unfolds in three different timeframes.
Tommy’s harrowing journey from the day he arrives on the beach with Alex, a solider he befriends (portrayed rather well by One Direction singer Harry Styles), unfolds over a week as the mass evacuation gets under way; the journey undertaken by civilian mariner Mr Dawson (Mark Rylance) on his boat as part of the civilian flotilla organised by the Royal Navy to help in the evacuation, takes place over a day; while finally, the film chronicles the crucial hour as three RAF pilots led by Farrier (Tom Hardy) fly towards the beach to provide what defence they can to the stranded troops – three parallel storylines that mesh together into a relentlessly intense, gut-wrenchingly emotional journey.
The characters and audience are taken on the beach as hell on earth manifests itself
Nolan’s intention was not to make a typical war movie. While the film has no shortage of action scenes – and sparse but effective dialogue – he wanted to portray an intimate yet harrowing look at the danger, fear, and horror visited upon the characters. And he certainly succeeds.
For the film’s duration, there is no respite for them – nor indeed for the audience. We are taken on the beach as hell on earth manifests itself in attack upon relentless attack. The Luftwaffe rains down bullets and bombs while U-boats fire torpedoes at the last remaining British Navy ships out at sea – it is like shooting fish in a barrel as the hapless thousands run desperately for cover where none exists, a cacophony of explosions ringing in their ears as fire, fury, death and destruction surround them completely.
We sense the tense determination of the pilots in their cockpits as they fly in the deceptively calm azure skies, fuel supplies precariously low and time running out, often experiencing their point of view, heart in mouth as the horizon tilts at precarious angles while they fend off the enemy. And there is no shortage of pressure as Mr Dawson and his young crew of two sail into the unknown unaware of the tragedy about to befall them…
As the action barrels down to its dramatic climax it is hardly surprising that, together with the protagonists on screen, we breathe a sigh of relief for the few precious moments in between attacks. There are some moments that are impossible to take in. I had to look away as men struggle desperately underwater as the ship they are on lists dramatically, or fight to swim away from a raging fire ignited by a huge oil slick on the sea’s surface.
The action is so well-plotted and paced that Nolan does not need to waste time on character introduction – their environment and their reaction to it sufficient to paint a portrait of the men caught up in the maelstrom, and he is well-served by both the veterans and the newcomers in his cast.
Whitehead and Styles are the perfect embodiment of the terrified, inexperienced soldiers thrown into a situation they cannot comprehend or seemingly escape. Kenneth Branagh’s Commander Bolton proffers a strong stoic leader under immense pressure in desperate circumstances to get his troops home. Tom Hardy’s gruff interaction with his fellow pilots underlines the tension in the sky. While another Nolan regular, Cillian Murphy, as a shell-shocked soldier rescued by Mr Dawson, very clearly spells out the devastating effects of war on the men fighting it. Rylance is the very essence of the British stiff upper lift, doing his duty for his nation without question, as he and hundreds of other civilian sailors take on a mammoth task to bring hundreds of thousands of troops home.
Dunkirk will undoubtedly feature heavily when awards season launches at the end of the year, and deservedly so. It will not be just Nolan for his writing, producing and directing duties, but his top-notch technical team, including Hoyte van Hoytema, whose cinematography captures the action magnificently, and editor Lee Smith, who cuts the three segments into one flowing cohesive whole. Not to mention veteran film composer Hans Zimmer’s powerful soundtrack, pulsating with urgency and tension to the rhythm of the action on screen.