Dunkirk Nolan Fans Member Reviews (NFometer)

The 2017 World War II thriller about the evacuation of British and Allied troops from Dunkirk beach.
Posts: 3394
Joined: September 2013
Location: Copenhagen
Dunkirk is Nolan's most perfect film to date.

Every single frame and cut is just right.

User avatar
Posts: 446
Joined: May 2013
Location: Hong Kong
Full review:

The visceral thrills this movie provides are matched only by this decade's best blockbusters – Gravity and Mad Max: Fury Road. (In my opinion, these two movies, especially the latter, are as close to perfect as it gets.) Similarities between these three movies abound; they are all non-stop roller coasters from start to finish. Nolan provides sparse dialogue and brief rooms to breathe before he throws you right back into the spectacle. And the spectacle works very well. The harrowing film recreates the dreadful atmosphere of war, without needing to delve into what is now called "war porn" – spilled intestines, rampant shrapnel, and demonic enemies. "War porn" was pioneered by Saving Private Ryan and most recently exemplified by Hacksaw Ridge, but Dunkirk is more akin to the pure survival/horror of Gravity and action/adventure of Fury Road. This subversion of genre tropes and violence that is not seen but felt are Nolan's leading accomplishments.

However, what Nolan adds on top of Gravity and Fury Road is his director's trademark – non-linear storytelling paired with cross-cutting editing. From breakout hit Memento to personal favorite The Prestige, almost all of Nolan's films feature some form of non-linear storytelling. This originates from Nolan's fascination of how the cinematic medium manipulates time, and is very well-experimented in Interstellar on the basis of relativity. The experiment continues, this time in fully-fledged feature-length form, to both benefit and detriment. This approach is arguably necessitated; otherwise, Hardy would only appear at the end with 5 minutes of screen time. Showing certain events not once but thrice also reinforce some of the film's themes, such as the repetitive, hellish experience of the soldiers and the elaborate effort needed from all three parties to coordinate the miracle of the evacuation. On top of that, the convergence (i.e. the entire third act) was done beautifully and led to an emotionally satisfying climax. However, the non-linearity was hampered by the editing. Non-linear narratives, especially ones as intricate and convoluted as Dunkirk, creates unavoidable confusion, and a key part of the editor's job is to lessen the confusion and smoothen the audiences' viewing experience. Editor Lee Smith's work leaves much to be desired, as he did not help the audiences piece the puzzle together. There was one point when I felt the editing almost butchered the cleverness and brilliance of Nolan's presentation of his themes through the structure.
I'm talking about the moment when the history of Cillian's character is revealed. The cut back to "The Sea" doesn't help the audience realize it's the same person at all.
I was also troubled by the editing in Interstellar – this seems to be a worrying trend.

Another major point of criticism, other than the non-linear storytelling, is the supposed "lack of character development" and resultant "disconnection with the viewer". I found myself deeply engrossed by the drama and never felt any sort of disconnection whatsoever. The lack of character backstory is another wonderful subversion of genre tropes and contributes significantly to the unstopping tension and authenticity of the film. It never made me care less for the characters. What I see in Dunkirk is hundreds of thousands of people facing an insurmountable challenge and near-certain death. Their struggle, in the face of such overwhelming calamity, is palpable. As Mencius would have noted, it is the human instinct to care for them. I am alarmed by all these reports of "disconnection" with the characters, for these viewers must be stone-cold and devoid of empathy. I was also very moved by the third act when the Miracle of Dunkirk happened, and it had nothing to do with my British passport. Patriotism is indeed heavy in the film, but the emotional reassurance that comes with the glorious yet bittersweet ending easily warms the hearts of audiences worldwide.

The sound of the film is also noteworthy. I am by no means a historian, so I was very pleased to read reports of how accurate the sound effects of the planes were. The second presentation of Dunkirk I saw featured absolutely earth-shattering sound which put audiences right on the shore, at the sea, or airborne. Watching the film was truly an experience that attacked every inch of all the senses. I was also intrigued but ultimately approving of Nolan's use of the score. Almost every second of the film features Zimmer's score. While many have complained since Interstellar that Nolan overuses the score to cheaply manipulate the audiences' emotion, I found his placing of the score more of a thematic statement than a suspension device. However, I was letdown by Zimmer's score itself. With leitmotifs found only sparingly, it is certainly no masterpiece like Inception and Interstellar. The central theme, "Supermarine", is great work but merely standard fare from Zimmer et al., and negatively reminiscent of "Mombasa" from Inception. The emotional high-points were heightened not by Zimmer's original work but by Edward Elgar's famous (and arguably overused) "Nimrod". I do understand Nolan and Zimmer's use of Elgar's work – "Nimrod" is indeed the quintessential British piece, and it would be pointless to try to emulate Elgar. However, this lack of originality severely detracts from the score on its own. Most of Zimmer's work is atmospheric and complements the film appropriately, but hardly stands on its own.

Other aspects such as van Hoytema's cinematography and Crowley's production design are all brilliantly accurate and spectacular yet never distastefully glorifying or glamorous. The cast works in perfect harmony, and I was particularly impressed by Styles' charismatic acting debut. It is these performances that flesh out characters, not clichéd backstories. Dunkirk is a fantastically crafted sensory experience and a fascinating albeit occasionally troublesome cinematic experiment. There are conspicuous shortcomings, but they can be forgiven, as Nolan has created a tour de force that fills the eye with spectacle, fills the mind with profoundness, and fills the heart with sentiment.

9.5/10
Last edited by anarchy on July 22nd, 2017, 4:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Posts: 171
Joined: May 2016
Can I change my rating to 10/10? This movie gets better the longer it sits.

Posts: 1
Joined: July 2017
I saw Dunkirk last night and was very impacted by it. I will see how I feel after some time, but it is up there with The Dark Knight and The Prestige as one of the best films I have ever seen. Here is my take on the movie, what did you think of Dunkirk?


http://www.flatcircleblog.com/2017/07/d ... -peer.html

User avatar
Posts: 9849
Joined: October 2011
Location: Foot of Mt. Belzoni
Holy fuck is all I can say at the minute

Review and rating tomorrow

User avatar
Forum Pro
Law
Posts: 17034
Joined: July 2010
Location: Moonlight Motel
Just saw it in IMAX 70mm.. change my rating to a hard 10/10

User avatar
Posts: 16015
Joined: June 2011
Location: New York City
cummies

User avatar
Posts: 5279
Joined: May 2014
WHAT A FUCKING MASTERPIECE

10/10

Posts: 34
Joined: July 2017
dormouse7 wrote:
Law wrote:
Did we not watch the same movie?
My husband was also confused by what exactly happened in the end in the shot-up trawler. And like someone on Reddit spoilers, my husband
thought he saw Gibson fine and alive later and exchanging a wink/nod with someone. I think my husband confused Tommy w/ Gibson - I think Tommy exchanges a nod with Alex.
I thought that was Alex and Tommy acknowledging what happened, and maybe Tommy telling Alex it was okay and he tried and not to feel guilty because he DID try to save him, or saying they were glad they were both alive, not that they were commiserating that Gibson ended up dead. But maybe I'm just biased and read the scene wrong?

User avatar
Posts: 26414
Joined: June 2011
Mine may have bumped up to a 10/10 on a second viewing. Will follow up shortly. To be continued...

Post Reply