A puzzling achievement

★★★ out of ★★★★

Dunkirk (2017)

Runtime: 106 minutes

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for intense war experience and some language.

Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk takes place during World War II, concerning soldiers trapped in Dunkirk and how they are evacuated. Dunkirk is told in a non-linear narrative separated into three stories, all starting at different times but interconnecting towards the end of the film. While on a technical aspect, it's one of the best films with perfect sound mixing and score, and while its depiction of soldiers in dire situations is utterly terrifying, the result is a film I disliked but admired on a technical perspective. It's dramatically flat, and the narrative gets painfully repetitive towards the second-half, but this a film of such spectacle and accuracy that I'm stunned.

The film starts with the following text:

THE ENEMY HAVE DRIVEN THE BRITISH AND FRENCH ARMIES TO THE SEA.

TRAPPED AT DUNKIRK, THEY AWAIT THEIR FATE.

HOPING FOR DELIVERANCE.

FOR A MIRACLE.

Story 1: The Mole (one week)

Tommy (Fionn Whitehead) is the sole survivor of a shooting from German soldiers. He miraculously escapes and makes his way to the beach, where thousands of men are lined up, ready to be evacuated. He meets a soldier Gibson (Aneurin Barnard), and pretend to be medics to board the ship. The ship is attacked by Germans, and spot a soldier named Alex (Harry Styles) and saves him.

Later, the three of them board a Red Cross vessel, get some food and water, but the vessel is struck by a torpedo, causing them to abandon the ship and board a skiff back to the shore. They attempt repeatedly to escape from the shore, but are always stopped from attacks from the Germans. At last, they meet a ship (from The Sea), but Gibson has already drowned by then.

Story 2: The Sea (one day)

A mariner named Mr. Dawson (Mark Rylance) along with his son Peter (Tom Glyne-Carney) uses their personal naval to rescue soldiers stranded at Dunkirk. They are joined by a young helper George (Barry Keoghan). The first person they rescue is an unnamed shell-shocked soldier (Cillian Murphy). Upon knowing about Mr. Dawson's intentions to go to Dunkirk and save more soldiers, the unnamed soldier panics and starts a fight, causing George to fall to the bottom of the boat and hit his head hard. They rescue a pilot named Collins (from The Air, played by Jack Lowden) and save numerous others, including the main characters from the Mole.

Story 3: The Air (one hour)

A squadron leader, pilot Farrier (Tom Hardy) and Collins board individual Spitfires (which I heard were designed so accurately detailed) to provide air support to troops. They spot ME 109 German fighter planes and go after them. The leader goes down, Farrier's fuel gauge is broken and Collins is shot down. Farrier is left alone to try to eliminate as many German fighter planes as possible, to reduce further damage to the allied troops.

Speaking of technical details, I noticed how scenes swapped from the probably 16:9 ratio (If I got this wrong, sorry. I don't bring measuring tape to the movies and measure the screen) to full screen ratio very frequently. The scenes from The Air encompassed the whole screen, and was such a breathtaking experience. The probably 16:9 shots were preserved for more cinematic scenes and dialogue between characters. Another thing to note was the sound mixing, which felt out of this world, as in bizarrely unique. It helped intensify almost each scene, from the shots of planes in the air to ships sinking in the sea.

Dunkirk succeeds in depicting the horrors of World War II, while sneakily never fitting German soldiers and their uniforms in the screen. We get to learn the hardships of the characters, their bravery, commitment and endurance. It gets so fear-provoking and real at times, you'd wish the dialogue was other than commands, orders and factual statements more often.

Even though Dunkirk reaches its highs, it could have been more compelling and impactful if it offered characters to greatly care about. Story 1 explores the trio and their groups in constant dilemma, trauma and fear, though to a certain degree. Story 2 touches lightly on characters and barely develops them, creating a lack of connection to the audience. Story 3 is great in terms of experience but shallow in character. The most we know about Farrier is that he's a skilled pilot that takes down many fighter planes. He's a too one-dimensional for me to really concern myself about.

However, we're at least happy that the characters made it and are safe now. In total, about 338,000 men were rescued from Dunkirk, beating the original goal of 30,000. The French are yet to evacuate, while the Brits are happily residing in their homes. As the quote goes: "Wars are not won by evacuations." It is debatable whether the war in Dunkirk was a success or not, and the film shows us the horrifying rescue. Is Dunkirk good? Is Dunkirk bad? It exists and is what it is, take it or leave it.