July 19, 2017 1 min to read

Dunkirk

Dunkirk is the rare movie that engrosses you in a cause and a tragedy rather than a person.

by Zach Saul

Christopher Nolan is really good at making movies. Dunkirk is the rare movie that engrosses you in a cause and a tragedy rather than a person. Nolan takes a pretty dry milirary premise, that easily could have been an unplesant reliving of the titanic trajedy, and spins it into an unsettling masterpiece. It’s a simple story about brave people doing the best they can for one another. Dunkirk’s greatest achievement is making you feel like your under attack while avoiding the chiched (at least in film) explosive scenes that clutter most war movies. Instead the experience you have watching Dunkirk forces you to confront the realities of being under attack with little hope of survival by digging into the details. This movie throws you for a loop because is isn’t immediately clear who to root for, and it doesn’t follow a person or group persay. Nolan is a master at taking the perspective of his subjects and in this film despite the charecters being in the background presents a common unifying perspective of these men who had no agency in their fate, and in a way presents them as anti-heroes.

The Good: This movie is beautifully scored and shot. The cinematography is incredible, and the fact it takes place mostly on a white sand beach makes the viewer seem alone and helpless during the trajic scenes, and at peace during the triumphant moments. The score is fabulous in this movie and if I had to guess will recieve a nomination come awards season.

The Bad: In some ways it feels more like an experiment than a narritive - but that was probably the point. As humans we’re obsessed with our own agency, and Dunkirk sort of asks you for 90 minutes to set it asside. As a viewer I found it frustrating and intriguing at the same time. Also I must admit that although I don’t share thier feelings that the film is “racist” I do think some critics bring up a fair point that the cast lacking diversity is an issue (not just politically, but for historical accuracy).