Review of Dunkirk (2017) by Michael T — 16 May 2018

As both a history graduate who loves war films and a Christopher Nolan fan, I was looking forward to this film a lot. And if I'm honest on first viewing, I was left disappointed. This film whilst historically accurate for the most part, left out a lot of details that I would deem important or at least relevant. What were the French doing? What was the Nazi position? How did we get to this point? What happens after? These are all points that conventional war films would address, and I was disappointed to not get a full picture. HOWEVER!

On second viewing, I realised that this film is very well done and doesn't need to address these issues. This film follows 3 main characters, a soldier, a pilot and a civilian who answered the call to help the soldiers fighting for his country. We don't need to see the French participation, we don't need to see the enemies point of view, how we got there would have been a nice extra but ultimately, it would risk losing balance between the characters. What this film aims to do is tell the story of the event itself using very little story or characterisation, but focus on shock, detail and showing what happened not why or who was involved. This was about some people getting of a beach, that is all you need to know. What we get is a stellar score, impressive visuals and a plot in which without anyone saying a word, it evokes fear, pain and relief amongst many other emotions. Most of the characters don't even have names. We don't need to know their names, they are one of thousands, just one person who is in the same boat (not literally) as everyone else. They are heroes yes, but they all are. Also, from a realism point of view, in such horrendous circumstances, who would honestly care to ask someone's name anyway. This attention to detail works. This attention to detail provides a story from the soldier's perspective, where the greater politics at play are irrelevant, where the roles of the rest of world couldn't be further away from the minds of these poor people.

Aside from my initial criticisms, the only gripe I had was the timing of the film. Each of the main characters work on different time scales but are shown adjacent to each other. This was important because otherwise we would have seen some characters whose entire story lasts one hour for only a short period in the last few minutes and the tension would have been lost. Once you realise what is happening, it is easy enough to follow however if you don't understand, then this film is a mess.

Overall, this film is beautifully shot and surprisingly educational and thought provoking for a film with next to no dialogue. The score is superb and lends to creating emotions in the viewer. This film has you on the edge of your seat and doesn't break away from this until the very end. It questions morals and leaves you guessing. The time scale could have been explained better however once you understand, it makes complete sense. This film will not appeal to everyone, it is to an extent a very experimental film, but I would certainly be happy to see more films done in this style.