Official
Australian release date: 20/7/17. Viewed: 21/7/17.
Director:
Christopher Nolan
Actors:
Fionn Whitehead, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy, Jack Lowden
Genre: War
/ Action
Rating:
M
‘Dunkirk’ is Nolan’s first war film and
as such, it’s not typical or predictable. There’s no real introduction to the characters
– we’re suddenly in the middle of 400,000 Allied troops being evacuated from
France back to England in the middle or World War II. It’s filmed from three
perspectives (which works quite well): the land, where Tommy (Whitehead) is
trying to get off the beach and Bolton (Branagh) is trying to organize the retreat;
the ocean, where Dawson (Rylance) & his son Peter are on a small boat; and
the air, where Farrier (Hardy) & Collins (Lowden) are trying to stop the
German bombers.
The first thing you notice is the score –
by Hans Zimmer – as each of the different viewpoints has it’s own motif, but
they are all very persistent and add to the tension and desperation of the
soldiers to escape. It’s interesting that you never actually see any German
soldiers and “Nazis” are never mentioned, just “the enemy”. There’s no real
main character – perhaps Whitehead, as a young, out-of-place infantryman – but
they all seem realistic and suitably distraught, just trying their best to
survive and make it home. The definition of “lose the battle, but win the war”.
It’s nice to see all the British civilian
boats arrive across the English Channel (which looks great in most shots, obviously
filmed on a rare sunny day!), with Rylance as the moral compass, and there’s
plenty of drama on the beach, but the plane battles are probably the highlight,
having you on the edge of your seat, leaning with the pilots. It’s short – 105min,
so not an “epic” – and won’t be remembered as the new ‘Saving Private Ryan’, but
it’s just as good as last year’s ‘Hacksaw Ridge’.
Overall: Innovative take on the war film.
Gav's Rating: 4 stars.
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