War films. We have a lot of them: an entire genre of them. And they make for great cinema. Some of the greatest war films that have been produced are also regarded as some of the greatest films of all time. You have your older films of the Great War and World War II like All Quiet on the Western Front and The Longest Day. Then there are the sprawling epics like Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia. Directors in the 60s, 70s, and 80s made masterpieces that tackle the politics of the Vietnam War and the Cold War, including Apocalypse Now, Platoon, and my personal favorite Dr. Stangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. And then we have more modern classics like The Thin Red Line, Saving Private Ryan, The Hurt Locker, and basically every Star Wars film ever.
Right, I guess just adding the word "war" to a title doesn't automatically qualify it as a war film per se (I'm looking at you, Bride Wars). But the fact remains: we as a population pay big bucks to see war brought to life on the silver screen. And why?
For me a lot of times I feel a sense of honor for the men and women who have served in the armed forces. I have never donned a military uniform (except for that one time I portrayed GI Joe for a History Field Day group performance to tell how media in the form of toys, video games, and movies influences society) so I feel like I at least owe it to our veterans to see and hear their stories told. Of course, no film comes close to actually sitting down and talking with a veteran. If you've never had the chance, particularly with a veteran of World War II, do it.
I will likely (hopefully) never have to experience firsthand the horrors of war. And I am grateful for that and even more grateful to those who charge willingly into battle.
When it comes to war depicted on film, I think what it comes down to is it makes for some damn good stories, visuals, and action set pieces.
And Christopher Nolan's latest film, DUNKIRK delivers on all of those and more in spades.
Just a fragment of the 400,000 British troops lining the beaches at Dunkirk.
Sadly, I knew almost nothing about the history of the Dunkirk evacuation prior to our screening earlier this week. If you were like me, it's worth a read over at the ol' Wikipedia. Though going in with no knowledge of the story also makes for a rousing viewing experience.
Unlike almost all the aforementioned war films, this is a World War II film that doesn't have any American troops. For America, the touchstones of World War II include Pearl Harbor, D-Day, and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many films have already been made to tell those stories. For the Allied troops in the war at the time (especially the British, French, and Belgians), Dunkirk (or, more specifically, Operation Dynamo) was as decisive a point in the war as any of those moments were for America. Had the evacuation not been a success, the British would have lost a significant percentage of their military and Hitler's conquest through Europe would have played out much differently.
The film is told via three interwoven perspectives: on land with the soldiers at the mole, at sea with the cavalry of small boats captained by commoners, and in the air with the spitfire pilots of the Royal Air Force. Each perspective could be a film in its own right, but when stitched together in Nolanesque fashion (see also Memento, The Prestige, and Inception), it makes for a masterpiece of storytelling. Every moment of suspense from each storyline builds together a tapestry of tension that seems impossible to escape, much like the plight we find our characters in.
You may be asking, "How can a war film be so real and intense if it's rated PG-13? They can't show that much blood in PG-13 movies." It's true. There's very little blood to be seen in Dunkirk (maybe only dried blood on soldiers here and there, if that). Instead the film portrays the constant fear of death that war places on soldiers. It depicts the state of peril that is relentlessly looming, whether from the guns and bombs of the Luftwaffe in the sky, the torpedoes of the U-boats under the water, or the bullets from an infantry's gun that you can't see. The cast and crew have brought this to life in a perfect way that grips you every second of the film's 1 hour 46 minute runtime.
Madison compared how tense she was sitting through this film to her experience watching The Conjuring. Now, Madison hates scary/horror films. But she said she at least had moments to pause and collect herself while watching The Conjuring--times when she could breathe. Not so in Dunkirk. On the bright side though, Dunkirk won't still be haunting her almost two years later (I showed it to her Halloween 2015) when she gets up at 3AM to feed our crying baby and then has to frantically run back to our bedroom. Sorry again, babe!
This is also the most beautifully shot film I have seen in 2017, thanks to the work of cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema. Christopher Nolan is among a handful of premier directors who stills insists on shooting with film instead of digital cameras. And that choice comes forth in the quality of his films. The aspect ratio of IMAX film lends itself to some breathtaking scenes. He shot 28 minutes of The Dark Knight in IMAX, including the opening bank robbery scene. For The Dark Knight Rises he shot 72 minutes with IMAX cameras, including the opening airplane hijacking scene. And for Interstellar he shot 66 minutes on IMAX film, including most of the scenes in space. He topped all of those with Dunkirk, shooting 79 of the total 106 minutes with IMAX cameras. I feel like Nolan uses the format here in its most powerful and beautiful way. For that reason I can't emphasize enough that if there is an IMAX theater near you, you have to see it in that format. And if not, at least see it on the biggest screen possible. What I mean to say is that you will be doing this film a huuuuge disservice if you stream it from your phone or even on your home theater. I'm sure it will still be a great film when played that way, but one scene in particular stood out to me. One of the protagonists at the mole steps onto the beach and immediately you see the grand scale of war as he is framed as a minuscule lone soldier in the center of a massive wide angle shot. The impressive aerial dogfights between the British spitfire pilots and the German Luftwaffe in the incredible IMAX aspect ratio are gorgeous to behold as well. I'm calling it now: Best Cinematography at next year's Oscars.
Perhaps the miracle of this film is that it is one of the few films of the summer that doesn't have a built-in audience from an already existing IP (see Planet of the Apes, Transformers, Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Wonder Woman, Cars, Despicable Me). Of course you have all those One Direction fans who are clamoring to see Harry Styles carry a World War II evacuation film (spoiler alert: he doesn't carry the film). That being said, the cast is great, but only in small roles. The majority of screen time is probably divided among Mark Rylance (an esteemed stage actor who won Best Supporting Actor for his role in Bridge of Spies), Kenneth Branagh (renowned Shakespearean actor, director, and Gilderoy Lockhart), or Fionn Whitehead (...yeah). But they don't quite have the pop culture status to bring in the average movie goer. They're just solid actors doing their job in an exceptional film. Much like war. World War II saw a generation of men and women go off to fight. They weren't elite super soldiers by any means. They were parents, kids, friends, and neighbors. Each person was important for the simple fact that they were somebody's loved one leaving home to put their life on the line.
This film may not have the star power to put butts in seats, but considering film as the dominant art form of our time, then the artist behind the camera is one of the greats of this generation, and you should go see this film. In the BIGGEST WAY possible.