Review of Dunkirk (2017) by Matthew L — 10 Jun 2018

Christopher Nolan carves out for his audience 107 minutes of all out tension while still seeking to give honor to the moment of Dunkirk that is due. While I do give him credit for trying to form a completely different take on cinema where the movie is moment based rather than character based (which does give a lot of attention to this moment and honors it in every way), as a film this doesn't really work as well as some may have hoped.

Nolan tells this moment to us perfectly on screen, and I felt nothing but tension for the next several hours after I saw this movie. However, a film requires more than tension (not speaking of this historical event lacking importance but simply as a film).

A film requires an arc rather than a scream of fright. A film requires a character to follow (most times), and while Nolan does give us that to a degree, it is the moment that he so desperately seeks to elevate, even at the expense of movie quality, and I can at least respect that kind of boldness as a filmmaker, but I can't say the movie improved all that much by it.