You are currently viewing At the Movies with Alan Gekko: Dunkirk “2017”

At the Movies with Alan Gekko: Dunkirk “2017”

MPAA Rating: PG-13/ Genre: War/ Stars: Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles, Aneurin Barnard, James D’Arcy, Barry Keoghan, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy/ Runtime: 106 minutes

I wouldn’t have thought you could make a grand-scale war film with minimal ingredients at play, but that was before Christopher Nolan. I also would never believed it likely that you could make a war film where the events and their outcome were already known into an absolutely riveting thrill ride….but again that was before Christopher Nolan. Indeed this man was already a master-class filmmaker, but with Dunkirk he has managed to do something new. He has managed to rip away every bit of not necessary material as well as every cliché and typical sub-arc known to the war film genre, and just zeroed in on the men involved in the main arenas that day with no theatrics yet all the humanity and natural suspense and tension still attached. However even with that in play trust me when I say that the end result is truly glorious beyond any and all words. Indeed it may not possess the epic-feel of Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan or magnificence of George C. Scott’s exquisite turn as Patton, but in my opinion I believe that Dunkirk is easily just as much a masterpiece as the previously 2 iconic pieces of cinema. Indeed not only is this yet another home run for a director who can only, it seems, deliver those, but it’s also proof that there truly is not a single genre of filmmaking it seems that he can’t instantly elevate to new and exciting heights.

The plot is as follows: The movie takes us back in time and focuses on the aftermath of what is known as the battle of Dunkirk. I feel it should be said that this battle was unique due to being very short in terms of duration yet make no mistake: it nevertheless was quite a potent and deadly skirmish during the early years of World War 2. Indeed this is because, despite its short timeframe, it resulted in Allied soldiers being completely and totally surrounded on virtually every front imaginable by the Germans and thus in need of a serious evacuation from the beaches of Dunkirk despite still being picked off from the air by German fighters. So it is that we get to witness on the ground a pair of British Army privates by the names of Tommy and Alex who are just a couple of the numerous men finding themselves engaged in a deadly quest to both stay amongst the living yet also safely get off the beach utilizing whatever transport happens to be at their disposal. Meanwhile we also follow, from across the sea, a local yacht headed by a Mr. Dawson who, alongside his son, finds himself approached by the British Navy to aid them in getting to Dunkirk and retrieving as many men off the beach as possible. Finally we also take to the air with a handful of members from Britain’s Royal Air Force as they struggle in their mission to shoot down the deadly German bombers so that they can do their part in ensuring that the soldiers on the ground are able to get off the beach in one piece and thus get home safely….

Now Dunkirk it should be noted doesn’t exactly tell audiences the narrative for a specific individual; rather this movie chooses to make the event itself the way that the film moves forward thus giving an audience the chance to watch a film where a period of time is portrayed by the cast instead of the period of time portraying the characters. Indeed this method of execution is best exemplified by the fact that this movie has scenes that are all at different times across the 3 main stages of land, sea, and air and while they are all distinct in their own way, they nevertheless all manage to come together at the end of the film.

With that being said however, I still feel that, regardless of the fact that this film’s focus not proving to be the characters that’re involved, there truly is not any turn in this movie which I found to be either coming up short or not fitting in with what is presented either in regards to location or mood in anyway. However if I had to name distinct standouts, I would have to say that Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, and making his debut in a motion picture, Fionn Whitehead all contribute especially memorable and engaging performances that are all on the same level as the jaw-dropping show that Nolan always gives his audience.

Of course it should also be said that, as seems to be the norm when it comes to movies done by Christopher Nolan, that the visual effects in this film are absolutely incredible. Indeed the sets, with the aid of phenomenal establishing shots, all do a remarkable job of showing on a scale just how massive this evacuation truly was. Along with that, we also get action beats that are showcased in a style that is both polished and center to what’s going on in equal measure while also coming equipped with a carefully selected amount of shots that are precise rather than a seemingly overloading of quick and furious jump cuts that audiences have come to look to see in a lot of current movies in the action or war genres. That of course isn’t even taking into account the numerous moments in the film that do a frighteningly accurate job of giving life to the terror, chaos, and just pure feeling of being enclosed in that must have been with the men during that time and it’s through these elements that not only will you feel glued to the edge of your seat, but you are able to give this movie your complete attention.

Yet if there was ever an aspect of this production which really elevated things to the next level it would have to be in regards to the sound design. This is because this movie honestly provides audiences with one of the most true-to-life depictions of just how horrifying war can truly sound. Indeed when compared to other films, gunfire sounds completely different as here it is given to the audience in a sharp, cracking followed by a loud explosion and a immense base. Plus it also doesn’t hurt when you have the infamous “Jericho Trumpet” noise made by an approaching Stuka which simply aids in enhancing just how helpless the situation for these men truly was. Yet all of this is just simply magnified by the terrific soundtrack that is inserted throughout the duration of the movie by Hans Zimmer. Indeed I feel that this movie manages to really be a wonderful display for the phenomenal gift that Nolan and Zimmer together possess when it comes to mixing together music that has meaning alongside images that are arresting in order to get the desired response from the movie viewer. Indeed by utilizing a talented mixing of an omnipresent yet also whirring base, guitar strings that love to shriek when given the opportunity, as well the seemingly constant ticking of a watch, Zimmer is able to make palpable the very real sense of both apprehension and seriousness felt by everyone in the movie and is able to carry it wonderfully throughout the film from beginning to end.

Now one of if not the biggest gripe that a lot of people have had when I’ve talked to them about this film would revolve around the fact that this movie’s cast of characters are severely missing out in regards to both dimension as well as emotional investment. Yet I don’t think that this is a negative in the slightest. Rather, if anything I get the impression that what Nolan was going for, and quite successfully at that, was that he wanted the movie-goer to care about everyone in the movie rather than just one or two individuals. Granted, he did need to possess some “lead characters” to be part of the narrative so not only can they anchor the film, but so we are able to see just what transpires in the movie from the point of view of every group involved. This is important because usually in a film that is part of the war genre of filmmaking, that movie’s plot revolves around specific people being a part of a war and their participation in events during the war, but ultimately it’s about them as people and not as much about the war or conflict. With the movie Dunkirk however, Nolan has chosen to make it the story of Dunkirk rather than the story of a group of men who participated in Dunkirk. This is because what was being felt was more universal rather than individualistic in nature. In addition, Nolan also wisely chose other methods in the craft of film-making to help showcase this narrative instead of spoken dialogue and this is why there might be a few people who have an issue with the minimal amount of growth and development of the film’s characters. However if we look at this movie from a realistic point of view, the events portrayed in this film are not the time or place for an individual to develop; rather this was a time and place where the only desire men had was to survive to see tomorrow plain and simple. Suffice it to say that I think this is an aspect that Nolan manages to showcase brilliantly.

All in all when you as an audience member choose to sit down and watch Dunkirk, I can promise you this: you are not simply a third-party observer this go-around. Rather you are one of the wounded, but you are also one of the ones that does some killing as well. You are also one of those on the boats attempting the rescue yet you are also a pilot in one of the planes ensuring the boats are able to save as many as they possibly can. Finally I guess it is also safe to say that although you will also be in conflict at your very core due to splitting your time amongst the trio of groups at the heart of what is perhaps the most widely known evacuation from early on during 2nd World War, you will also be spellbound, glued to the edge of your seat, and quite unable to look away until the credits at long last begin to roll…on a scale of 1-5 I give Dunkirk a 4.5 out of 5.