Dunkirk: Christopher Nolan and his magic moments

Movie: Dunkirk

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Run Time: 2 hours

Director: Christopher Nolan

Cast: Tom Hardy, Fionn Whitehead, Harry Styles, Cillian Murphy

Rating: 8.5/10

Every inch and second of this movie is trademark Christopher Nolan, with him delivering one of the most precise and nerve-wracking war dramas till date.

Plot:

Dunkirk is a war movie that takes place in the backdrop of WWII, and is based on the Dunkirk Evacuation, also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk. 400,000 soldiers belonging to the nations of Britain, France, Belgium and Canada are trapped on the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk in France, after being cut off and surrounded by the German army. The British Navy decides to take warships and civilian vessels in order to save as many men as possible from Dunkirk, as the Germans have cut off land routes and have their military aircrafts patrolling in the air. The movie is shot from three different perspectives - land, air and sea.

On land, it shows the struggle of three soldiers, namely Tommy(Fionn Whitehead), Gibson(Aneurin Barnard) and Alex(Harry Styles). Tommy is a lone soldier who develops a silent friendship with Gibson when he finds him burying a friend. They come across Alex when they save him after he jumps off a sinking savior warship, and from that point on it's their fight for survival and their journey to safety.

In the air, it's the journey of two British Air Force fighter pilots named Farrier(Tom Hardy) and Collins(Jack Lowden) who are striving to keep the air over the Dunkirk harbour safe for the evacuation to take place. Collins lands in the sea after being gunned down by a German aircraft but is saved by Mr. Dawson(Mark Rylance) in his civilian vessel. Farrier tails the German aircraft and guns him down just in time before he's able to bomb the ships at the Dunkirk harbour, running out of fuel in the process.

At sea, it shows the journey of Mr Dawson with his civilian vessel to Dunkirk in order to help with the evacuation and save lives. He is accompanied by his son Peter and his son's friend George, and they save a shell-shocked soldier(Cillian Murphy) after finding him at sea.

What's to like:

Christopher Nolan brings us a nerve-wracking war film, with the direction being enthralling and captivating. Directorial brilliance shows in the fact that not a single war room scene with generals was shot, as Nolan stayed out of the politics of the situation, and no Germans were shown on screen as the contact with German soldiers was very little in the actual battle. The essence of every scene is instilled beautifully by him, and works in remarkable tandem with Hoyte Van Hoytema's stellar cinematography and Hans Zimmer's thrilling background score. The combination of these three keeps one at the edge of their seat, asking for more. Visual engagement is amplified as the film does not consist of many dialogues, and is kept clear-cut and straightforward. The actors work beautifully in cohesion with the director, resulting in performances which keep empathy alive through emotions of fear and longing. The locations and usage of time-relevant ships and aircrafts adds to the brilliance, with some of the warships being original British Destroyers.

What's not to like:

A movie that is brought forth with a mastermind at the helm, a team of experts and one which keeps the sincerity of the battle alive with no unnecessary drama or background story, it leaves little scope for improvement. Arguments could be made that the first half of the movie was slightly static but the duration of the movie along with the unraveling of suspense in the second half makes up for it.

Why you should watch it:

Watch it because it's Christopher Nolan working his magic on screen and nothing else. He keeps the suspense alive and keeps you wanting to know if they make it out alive. If you've watched his past works and were blown away by it, this is the movie for you.