Review of Dunkirk
Currently in wide release
*** out of four stars
by Walter G. Tarrow
I fought in Vietnam, yet I am a pacifist, but I also get tears in my eyes whenever I hear the theme to “A Bridge Too Far.” For me, “Apocalypse Now”captured the surreal nightmare of ‘Nam and “Saving Private Ryan” was gut wrenching.
But even with all the masterpiece labeled praise being heaped upon Christopher Nolan’s (Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, Interstellar) historical wartime drama “Dunkirk,” I found myself strangely unaffected.
Nolan brings his masterful, yet cold and cynical, cinematic intellect to the tale of Operation Dynamo, a massive wartime rescue of more than 300,000 troops driven to the sea, which saved most of the British army to fight another day. Called the Miracle of Dunkirk, I saw little that was miraculous and even less that was worthy of the stand up and cheer I so wanted.
Not so much a tale of plucky courage, British commoner seafaring resolve, unflinching fighter pilot determination or sole survivor perseverance, “Dunkirk” is all about men in danger pushed to, and trapped at, the edge of their world. Yet this telling has little of the terror that is war and, as such, lacked the tension that is needed for the requisite cathartic climax.
The faces of the German forces are never seen but their bullets rip and their bombs tear out chunks of soldiers. Even so, true to its history, those attacks were sporadic creating a sense of dread, but again, not terror.
The scene where Commander Bolton (Kenneth Branagh) slowly scans the horizon and, with eyes brightening, first sees the flotilla of small boats is moving in its simple vision of hope. And the dogfights in the sky do offer thrills and redemption. The fighter pilot (Tom Hardy) provides the most tangible, albeit questionable, evidence of the miracle that was Dunkirk.
The musical score is not so much music but rather an uninterrupted soundscape, along with the remarkable sound effects, that provides cohesion for the three converging narrative segments. The Mole focuses on those stranded and struggling on the beach. The Sea follows with a small boat’s personal and civilian mission of rescue. The Air soars above those helpless below the scattered attacks of a handful of enemy fighters and bombers and the occasional torpedo. The three come together at the end to take us home.
Nolan has always excelled with his stylistic visuals and in “Dunkirk” he’s no slouch in that department. Every aspect of the look of the film, cinematography, editing, costumes, effects (and kudos to Nolan for creating an epic, in this day and age, without CGI) is astounding. Small details like chalk notations on a Spitfire instrument panel are painfully accurate and therefore more meaningful.
More an epic visual tone poem than a wartime drama, Nolan’s “Dunkirk” is a film studies class masterwork without a heart.
