Dunkirk

When asked to describe the central theme of Dunkirk, Director Christopher Nolan stated that the film is about the “cumulative effects of small acts of heroism”. It is about the collective effort of human beings to surmount the insurmountable, to achieve the unachievable.

The story is pretty straightforward but Nolan made a bold choice to pull it all apart. Through the use of a non-linear timeline, the narrative structure of the film focuses on several different events culminating to the victorious rescue of 400,000 British soldiers at Dunkirk during the Second World War. It’s hard to pinpoint a specific protagonist or distinct storyline. Rather, the film tries to show us the broad overview of Operation Dynamo. It jumps across three different timelines, each presenting us with a different perspective of the evacuation. Yet, the film never stops being intimate. The immediacy of the situation at hand is instantly heightened by characters that provide us with a humanised and personalised look at the rescue. Every piece of the puzzle fits together effortlessly.

What Dunkirk is successful at is that it manages to position itself as an intellectual and impactful film without bombarding us with lengthy and contrived dialogue. Emotions are communicated among the characters, and to the audience, through glances and silences. The calmness throughout the film somehow magnifies the horror of the battle. Nolan’s longtime collaborator Hans Zimmer juxtaposes the suffocating quietness with a booming score, building the tension up to the next level.

Packed with intense action and sweeping emotions, Dunkirk is a deeply respectful take on the events of Operation Dynamo. Between the magnitude of the evacuation and the minute moments of desperation, Christopher Nolan has crafted yet another ambitious and symphonious film with Dunkirk which is destined to be another great addition to his already impressive mantel.

(Originally posted on 23 July 2017 @projectunwrapped)