Dunkirk: An unusual war film about survival

Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk is a landmark war film, both visually and in the storytelling method. Dunkirk (2017) narrates three parallel running stories, one on land, second in water, and the third one in the air. All the stories are set against the backdrop of WWII, 1940’s Dunkirk evacuation. These three different stories run parallel in the film but have a temporal difference with the story on land lasting 1 week, 1 day in the water, and 1 hour in the air. The film has a talented ensemble cast which includes Fionn Whitehead, Harry Styles, Aneurin Bernard, Kenneth Branagh, Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy and Michael Caine, who is a mainstay in Nolan films.

Dunkirk puts us in an uncomfortable, anxious, and adrenaline-pumping ride from the word go as Nolan decides to open to a shot of soldiers walking through a deserted lane with fliers falling from the sky intimidating the British soldiers how they are being trapped by the enemy; Germans. The mood and feeling of the film are set from that very scene as we watch Tommy (Fionn Whitehead) run for his life with Hans Zimmer’s equally terrifying background score playing; a constant ticking sound using Shepard’s Tone reminding us how the characters have a race against time to get out of Dunkirk as soon as possible, in any manner.

The film works exquisitely on numerous levels, boasting of an amazing screenplay, haunting background score, Hoyte Van Hoytema’s bleak and anxiety-inducing cinematography complimented with amazing performances by the ensemble. This is a war film that does not show a single drop of blood but still communicates to us the horrors of war. Nolan uses bleak and muted colors to represent how the lives of the soldiers are completely devoid of colors, hope or happiness. The weather also plays an important role in the visual progression of the story as we see overcast conditions with foggy weather for the majority of the film which connotes the situation of the soldiers, who have no idea if they will be alive the next moment or not. This makes their efforts to get of the place as soon as possible completely justified to the point where they start to take up every man for himself approach. Only when the small and pleasure boats start to arrive we see the sun and how the fog has disappeared, giving them a ray of hope and a chance of survival. The sequences shot in the air are breath-taking and can leave you baffled to know that they have used minimal CGI (Computer Generated Images), which strongly proves the point how Christopher Nolan has emerged as an Auteur in the recent years with so much control on his films and their execution.

The visuals are nothing by themselves and require a partner in audio, and with minimal dialogues used in the film, composer Hans Zimmer had a big job to do; and boy did he do that to perfection by creating an immersive and adrenaline-pumping score which works like an orchestra; on so many levels and layers that you can get completely lost in those sounds. He also used his iconic clock ticking sound which feels like the sound of a heartbeat at moments and that of an airplane at times. The music not only helps to elevate the cinematic experience and the feelings but also helps in editing the three parallel stories together with rising and falling actions in each sequence giving it a feel of several short stories being told on the screen. The sound rises in tempo which complements the action and the non-linear style of storytelling Nolan uses for the film. The non-linear narrative which started 1 week ago at the mole, 1 day ago in the waters and 1 hour before in the air converges at the climax with Ferrier (Tom Hardy) saving the day for the British army at the mole.

The film has minimal dialogues and relies heavily on its visuals, masterful staging of the scene by Christopher Nolan, actions of the character, and their expressions. The ensemble cast puts forth a tremendous effort with the Academy Award winner Mark Rylance (as Mr. Lawrence) and Tom Hardy (as Farrier) the pick of the lot.

Dunkirk is a very unusual war film that focuses on the soldiers’ relentless efforts to stay alive and escape the war, something which we do not see in war films usually. But the film emerges as a clear winner with its visuals, music and the use of ambient sounds; the sound of the air rushing by, bomb blasts, gunshots, water and especially of the wailing and crying humans drowning in ships, burning in fire and getting crushed by the sinking ships. This fast-paced war thriller is in a league of its own with its immaculate execution and Nolan’s intricate direction.

Written by:

Moksh Jindal

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