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'Dunkirk' (12A)

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*****

In May 1940, the advancing German forces trapped hundreds of thousands of Allied troops on the shores of a small coastal town, Dunkirk. Unprotected from the air and at the mercy of U-boats lurking in the channel, the soldiers looked out to sea and longed for home.
 
The moment I found out that Christopher Nolan (in my opinion, one of the best directors working today) was going to create a war epic, I was hooked. I longed for the cast list, looked out for the trailers, and delighted at Hans Zimmer's collaboration. And, after such a wait, it is with great relief that I can say Dunkirk is everything I wanted it to be, and more. Not only is it nail-bitingly tense, immersive in every sense of the word and moving, it is also incredibly beautiful. If a war film can ever be referred to as such. Expertly shot by Hoyte van Hoytema, who manages to capture the expanse of the sea as well as the claustrophobia of the boats, and punctuated by Zimmer's unrelenting, sweeping score, the film effortlessly marries art with storytelling to great effect. With a ubiquitously excellent ensemble cast of newcomers (Fionn Whitehead, Harry Styles and Jack Lowden leading the charge) and movie veterans (Kenneth Branagh and Tom Hardy amongst them), it's hard to imagine a more masterful 'blockbuster' film.
 
Despite this, however, Nolan's latest epic isn't perfect. Being as it is, so large in scale, we never really get to 'know' the characters - their motivations, hopes, dreams and stories are never revealed to us, as we only experience their 'lives' in the shadow of the Dunkirk evacuation. Also, being a series of interconnecting tales, some stories were always going to be weaker, and in this case it is unfortunately the tale of the shell shocked captain (played excellently by an under-used Cillian Murphy) and the incident which plays out upon Mark Rylance's civilian vessel. It seems a waste, not only of Murphy's outstanding talent, but also of the opportunity to discuss the mental effects of war and said 'incident' fails to add anything more to the story as a whole. Similarly, the breaking down of the story into three subsections (sign posted at the very start of the film) and their overlapping time frames seemed somewhat clunky, as though Nolan were trying to interweave his sci-fi know-how into a very real scenario.

From the opening scene, I was gripped - and the tension didn't let up until the final credits rolled. At some points I was aware I was even holding my breath, and if that is not proof of an immersive cinema experience, I don't know what is. Proving his mastery behind the camera once again, Nolan's wartime epic marries the brutally of conflict with stunning visuals and a consistently excellent score, resulting in a must-see film with plenty to commend.  
 

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