2017 | Dir. Christopher Nolan | 106 Minutes
"All we did is survive."
Trapped on the beach at Dunkirk in 1940, a British Soldier named Tommy is among hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers in the process of being picked off by German dive-bombers. Across the channel, Mr. Dawson, his son Peter, and neighborhood boy George set sail to Dunkirk in Dawson's boat alongside hundreds of civilian vessels to assist in the Royal Navy's desperate rescue mission. In the sky, a Royal Air Force fighter pilot flies towards Dunkirk to provide air support as his wing men are gunned down.
Dunkirk is an extraordinary and suspenseful war picture utilizing the very best of Christopher Nolan's talents as a filmmaker - most notably Nolan's unique manipulation of time. Told through three interwoven narratives that respectively take place over one week, one day, and one hour, tension is established through steadily rising action, breathtaking photography, and masterful film editing. Though the lead characters are not given much expository dialogue or backstory, they are fully-defined by the actions they take in the direst of circumstances. The film is a tale of pure survival, sidestepping any form of a political message, completely distilled and concentrated, undeniably thrilling the most visceral way.
Fionn Whitehead carries much of the film as the soldier Tommy, completely natural as a young man forming unspoken bonds with other soldiers as he desperately fights to survive under extraordinary circumstances. Kenneth Branagh and James D'Arcy make brief but notable appearances as military officers on the mole. Mark Rylance and Cillian Murphy provide dramatic conflict on the sea as small boat captain Mr. Dawson and a shell-shocked soldier found floating on debris. Young actor Barry Keoghan plays the well-meaning but hapless George in a memorable but thankless part. As the Royal Air Force fighter pilot, Tom Hardy is simply cool - there is no other descriptor for his performance - he is so cool.
Engaging, inspirational, meticulously-structured, at times disorienting, Dunkirk is a solid cinematic achievement that must be experienced in a movie theater. The film more than compensates for the absence of a conventional narrative with universal depictions of heroism through action.
FRAGMENTS
- Writer/Director Christopher Nolan considered improvising the entire film instead of writing a script but his partner Producer Emma Thomas convinced him to write an actual screenplay
- Dunkirk depicts the struggle of Operation Dynamo on the ground, on the sea, and in the air, while Darkest Hour, also nominated for Best Picture released in 2017, depicts the political administrative challenge behind the operation
MCU CONNECTIONS
- James D'Arcy (Edwin Jarvis in Avengers: Endgame)
- Barry Keoghan (Druig in Eternals)
- Harry Styles (Eros in Eternals)
- Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock and Venom in Spider-Man: No Way Home)
