'Dunkirk' Allows Nolan To Put His Spin On The War Epic
Dunkirk
- Starring Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Kenneth Branagh, Harry Styles, Mark Rylance
- Rated PG-13
- Action/Drama
- Run time - 1 hr, 46 min
- Directed by Christopher Nolan
- In theaters July 21, 2017
Everyone assumes that a war epic will always be the same. Lots of gunfire, almost overbearing amounts of blood and a general sense of terror.
'Dunkirk' has a bit of those elements, but it should be no surprise that director Christopher Nolan (known for his work on movies such as 'Inception' and 'The Dark Knight') puts his own spin on his depiction of a battle scene.
The story centers on the 300,000 Allied soldiers - most of them very young, scared and shellshocked men - stranded on a beach in the heart of the World War II battleground. They have one option: escape by sea. The film shows the scene from three different perspectives: the sea, the land and the air. Even those who know whether or not the majority of the forces survive will be on the edge of their seats as the tale unfolds in almost what seems to be real (or close to it) time.
The cast may be led by mostly rather lesser-known actors, but there is a dappling of stars (Branagh as the Navy officer in charge of the evacuation, Murphy as a soldier with an obviously serious case of PTSD and Hardy as a rather daring Allied pilot) worth of a Nolan-helmed movie. It'd be a grave mistake to discount the actors you may not recognize, however, because the young men (including Styles, in a rather impressive acting debut) in the forefront truly help sell it.
There's a sense of desperation - with good reason - through the film, and the men portraying the soldiers never slip in their emotions. While the enemy never seems to truly be shown other than in bombs and airplanes, it doesn't remove the urgency that comes from war tales that show them head on.
'Dunkirk' has many hallmarks of a Nolan movie throughout it, but unlike some of his other pictures that may appeal to a wide audience, this one definitely requires at least an appreciation of war films. That being said, it is a truly beautiful movie to watch, and one that does not sacrifice style for storytelling, but instead marries both.