Review: Dunkirk

USA Theatrical Release – July 21, 2017
Director – Christopher Nolan
Screenplay – Christopher Nolan

Synopsis – A retelling of the event in Dunkirk, France during World War II where 330,000 British soldiers were trapped on the beach and left (mostly) defenseless against the German army.

STORY – I found the story to be extremely interesting. Going in I knew nothing about what happened during this event. I like how we’re told the story through 3 different views, The Beach over 1 week, The Water over 1 day, and The Air over 1 hour. I’m assuming the characters were all fictitious but the events really happened. Through the layers of different views, I really liked the story presented in the film.

CHARACTERS – The film is packed with people, but their characterization is almost non-existent. We see them all for storyline based reasons only. Normally I’d have at least somewhat a problem with this, but given what Christopher Nolan was going for in how he was telling the story, it makes sense to do it this way. We see them solely as soldiers and don’t need to know any of their backstories.

PACING – This film zips through with no slow moments. In fact, I’d say that one of the gems of the craft of the film is its film editing. So many moments where we switch from one storyline to the next, and there was never a moment where it became a problem.

OVERALL THOUGHTS – I have never seen a film like this, and was blown away with the creative and craft choices. It’s a very well-developed film, even despite the character’s lack of characterization. I loved the film editing and the score from Hans Zimmer. It’s an unsettling score, which creates the proper tension in unison with the beautiful visuals from Hoyte Van Hoytema. This is easily one of my favorite films of the year, and I have no doubt it will stay that way based on future re-watches.

SCORE – 10 out of 10
ACADEMY AWARDS POSSIBILITIES (Nominations)
Best Picture
Best Director – Christopher Nolan
Best Supporting Actor – Mark Rylance
Best Original Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Costume Design
Best Film Editing
Best Original Score
Best Production Design
Best Sound Editing
Best Sound Mixing
Best Visual Effects