Today I'm going to give you a little review of the latest Blockbusting war thriller, Dunkirk that I saw yesterday with mum...
It's a story that has been retold and recreated in museums, books and films alike but this year, Christopher Nolan has lifted the lid on this epic tale of war once again, and he really has done the story of Dunkirk justice with a soundtrack and cinematography that make this well worthy of a watch.
We start the film with a young soldier making his way to the beach of Dunkirk under enemy fire surrounded by falling leaflets with the ominous message "We're surrounding you" written on them. As we follow the young soldier to the beach, intertitles help set up the story of French and British troops lining the beach "for deliverance...for a miracle". As we follow the soldier onto the beach, wide panning shots show the full extent of the sheer devastation that has befallen Dunkirk, and also the danger that they inevitably face from the opposing German forces. Thousands lined the beach waiting and hoping, facing the direction of 'home' ahead of them. "You can practically see it from here" is the heartbreaking line from naval commander Kenneth Branagh that makes this tale even more poignant and serves as a sobering start to this tragic war story.
 |
| credit: The Independent |
From 'the mole' on land, this film tells the story of Dunkirk in a multi-strand narrative that follows the Dunkirk action by boat, boot and plane; the soldiers fighting for their survival on the beach, Tom Hardy's spitfire pilot, Farrier, gunning against the Luftwaffe in the air and thirdly, on a boat across the Channel with a determined Mr Dawson (played by Mark Rylance) at the helm of his "pleasure craft" heroically heading into the battleground and picking up a shell-shocked soldier on the way. Add to this multi-strand action the booming bass notes and metronomic tones of a fantastically ferocious score composed by the legendary Hans Zimmer. The soundtrack adds to the action across all three narrative strands to create something that all together makes the audience feel like their in the action themselves hoping for home. The fear is tangible, the hopelessness haunting and the danger ever present and increasing with the volume of the soundtrack.
These three narrative strands take place in separate time periods; a week, a day and an hour adding yet another complex layer to the action and narrative depths that are reminiscent of another Nolan thriller, Inception. While the time jumps with the different narrative strands, it's story is still clear and easy to grasp and you get swept away with the sheer emotion and action in each scene from the first to the last. From the cockpit of the Spitfire aiming to gun down the Luftwaffe, to escaping the relentless bombing from the beach below, the audience always feels compellingly committed to the cause as much as the soldiers are.
This film is one that can't simply be defined by it's dialog or long action sequences, but by the all encompassing silent scenes and the long takes. The simple scene of thousands of soldiers looking up at the sound of an incoming plane and ducking says everything. A film like this doesn't need a elaborate dialog to be successful. What a film like this needs, and what Nolan has struck on in an extraordinary way, is that simplicity is everything and can evoke so much more emotion than words. The soundtrack alone sweeps you up into the tragic action unfolding in front of your eyes and you really get the uncomfortable feeling of inevitability with this film.
Nolan's promise of creating a "virtual reality without glasses" is truly and superbly realised here with scenes showing the vast expanses of beach, sea and sky that together create an extraordinary piece of film. The sound creates and carries a whole spectrum of emotion, while the cinematography helps to strengthen the emotion while strengthening the all-encompassing story of struggle, heroism and sheer determination. Nolan has done a fantastic job with this film that not only retells a story of war, but gives you a truly immersive experience that allows you to really feel the story; a story of civilian heroism and raw survival that'll forever be ingrained in the Nation's history.
So there it is, a review of Dunkirk without even a mention of Harry Styles! Seriously, go and see it, it's a truly great film.
Have a good week and I'll see you on Monday.
Share your thoughts :