Dunkirk is one of the best war movies ever

Christopher Nolan has made something really special here

Believe what you’ve heard about Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk. The praise is more than justified, and this is destined to be a classic war movie that’ll be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Saving Private Ryan and TV’s Band of Brothers. Many are saying that this is Nolan’s best film yet, and it’ll certainly give you an adrenaline rush quite unlike most big summer blockbusters. Dunkirk is an intense experience from start to finish, and one I wholeheartedly recommend.

The World War II story, as many likely already know, is that of the Allied soldiers who were trapped by German forces on the beach of Dunkirk in France. They were unable to escape and under constant bombardment, but civilian vessels became key to saving those on the beach. More than 300,000 soldiers eventually evacuated with help from small boats that made the journey across the Channel.

Here are five things Dunkirk does magnificently:

1. The atmosphere

One of the ways this film really isn’t like so many other war stories is that it doesn’t make much effort to pull you in to specific and individual character stories, instead delivering an overwhelmingly tense experience in which you follow multiple people. You learn few, if any, details about the characters in the story, and the important thing is that we feel what they feel. Every time a bullet suddenly whips past, or a bomber from the enemy sweeps overhead, the audience feels it.

There’s a really powerful immediacy to everything that happens in Dunkirk, and it all contributes to the uniquely stressful atmosphere of the movie. It’s smartly structured around three separate but interweaving strands — taking place on land, sea, and in the air — that unfold over different lengths of time, meaning it can always cut to something tense at any given moment. This is a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat for all of the taut 106-minute running time.

2. The cinematography

Try to see Dunkirk in IMAX. If any film was designed to be seen on the biggest and loudest screen you can possibly find, it’s this one. Here, we see Nolan reunite with Interstellar cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, and the result is one of the most exquisitely crafted pieces of spectacle on the big screen — and one that relies on practical rather than digital effects!

During filming, IMAX cameras were mounted onto the wings of aircraft, submerged in custom underwater housing, and even strapped into the cockpit of a replica Spitfire for one memorable point-of-view sequence. This is visceral, innovative and captivating filmmaking, and it deserves to be seen at the cinema. Dunkirk is almost guaranteed an Oscar nomination for cinematography, and a best picture nod is likely too. Because this is probably Nolan’s leanest and most propulsive film yet, you can expect it to be constantly in the awards conversation from now on.

3. The emotion

The film doesn’t have characters or character arcs in a typical sense, and it has minimal or restrained dialogue throughout. There are long stretches that play almost like a silent movie. Tom Hardy plays a Spitfire pilot who barely speaks at all for the whole film, and the other soldiers that we follow on the beach also generally don’t say much, but that doesn’t stop Dunkirk from being an emotionally resonant and moving experience. The film believes in a quiet and understated form of heroism, most notably expressed in the scenes where the civilian vessels arrive in Dunkirk, but also in the resolve of the Air Force pilots in the sky.

The moments in the film that are most moving often come as a surprise, with the audience not realising just how much they’ve been drawn into what’s happening. It’s also an fascinating consideration of just what victory looks like, and whether there is nobility in defeat and retreat. Much of the film is devoted to tension and suspense, but it certainly doesn’t ignore the issues that it is discussing or the emotion of the story.

4. The performances

This is a true ensemble movie, and the scarcity of dialogue means there are few opportunities for any one actor to stand out within this cast. Tom Hardy, though, continues to prove he’s one of the most incredible actors around with a performance that is almost entirely reliant on his eyes and expressions over everything else. He stays in a cockpit with his face covered for the nearly the whole duration of the film, and it’s surprisingly riveting stuff.

Mark Rylance is predictably excellent as an ordinary man who takes his boat across the Channel to do what he can to save the soldiers at Dunkirk. His brief lines of dialogue may be the most literal reminders of the film’s themes, but they’re delivered so well that it stops them being clunky or unsubtle. The key actors on the beach are Fionn Whitehead, Harry Styles and Aneurin Barnard, who all do a tremendous job of conveying the desperation and frustration felt by English soldiers stranded in Dunkirk.

5. The soundtrack

Hans Zimmer has outdone himself with the score for Dunkirk. The music blends in a consistent ticking sound that contributes greatly to the stressful atmosphere, and Zimmer creates the illusion of a never-ending crescendo to further the tension. Nolan has talked about how the score uses the ‘Shepard tone’ to deliver a “corkscrew effect” that enhances of a feeling of intensity that constantly builds and builds without ending.

This is a score that blends perfectly to the film and the audio always complements what you’re seeing onscreen. In this interview, Zimmer talks about how this was the closest he’s ever collaborated with Nolan and the director mentions how he steered Zimmer away from emotional beats and encouraged his composer to produce a score where the rhythm and suspense are prioritised above all else. It works outstandingly, like so much of this exceptional film does.

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