Dunkirk is the sadly little-known story of the evacuation of Allied troops from northern France during World War 2. Quite honestly, I was only vaguely aware of this significant part of WW2. As with all heavy metal fans, I am very familiar with Churchill’s famous speech (“We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France We shall fight over the seas and oceans….”) but I always thought it referred to the Battle of London. Turns out that I have been wrong for quite a long time and that speech was about Dunkirk. The relatively unknown status of the event makes some sense, I suppose, as an evacuation isn’t exactly the most glorious of military operations in the largest war ever fought. But I am glad that this has shed some light on it for modern audiences and it is a pretty damn good film too.
There is actually very little plot in this film. In fact, there isn’t much in terms of plot, character development or dialogue. Despite all of that, the structure is complex and refreshingly unique. The evacuation is viewed from three perspectives: the land, the sea and the air. On the land of the beaches of France, hundreds of thousands of trapped soldiers await rescue. On the sea, civilians have mobilized in fishing vessels to travel to Dunkirk to save the stranded troops. In the air, pilots in the British air force race to the beach to provide air support for the evacuation. The film is divided fairly equally between the three perspectives and, as an added dimension, the three divisions take place over different time periods. The events of the film last a week on the land, a day on the sea and only an hour in the air. If you don’t grasp this concept of time early on, you will be very lost. But it is a very interesting way to tell a story and present events from multiple perspectives. If nothing else, this film’s script is worth studying for its manipulation of time and structure that could have easily fallen apart in the hands of a less talented filmmaker.
The film also features a great ensemble cast that includes Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance. I mentioned that there is very little in the way of character or dialogue and that might imply that these actors are all wasted, but that isn’t the case. They are each able to imbue their characters with personality and growth largely through body language and facial expressions, thus making otherwise underdeveloped characters more interesting than they otherwise would be. The film is also beautiful to look at with excellent cinematography (I wanted to see it in 70mm but had to settle for IMAX digital) and a soundtrack that is both understated and filled with building dread as the situation grows more dire. On every technical level, the film is a marvel.
The film’s minimalist approach can also be a hindrance, though, in that there aren’t really any characters to latch on to. There is no villain, other than the German forces that largely lurk offscreen. There is no central hero. Dunkirk is an extremely untraditional film in those senses, especially for a major studio summer release that cost $100 million to make. But despite those elements (or missing elements, I should say) the film is not short on tension. Despite the benefit of historical hindsight, the plight of these soldiers is made palpable and one hopes that they make it out alive. In a film without memorable characters or lines, that is an accomplishment unto itself.
I am a fan of writer/director Christopher Nolan, having loved his Batman trilogy and enjoyed Interstellar (I still haven’t seen Inception, but I’ll get around to it) and I give him credit for getting a major studio (Warner Bros.) to fund such an experimental film about a fairly obscure historical event. It somehow manages to be both an enjoyable thriller and a pretentious experiment in structure, which is a damn hard combination to pull off. While I probably won’t revisit this often because it doesn’t give the viewer much to grasp onto for repeat viewings, I recommend seeing this in a theater for its originality and technical prowess.
And if you need me to explain the connection between heavy metal and Churchill’s speech, then you aren’t a metal fan.
Image By: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunkirk_(2017_film)#/media/File:Dunkirk_Film_poster.jpg
