(Tom
Hardy, Mark Rylance & Kenneth Branagh)
A magnificent spectacle that is well worth
experiencing. (Review by Patrick Compton - 8)
Retreats should not, normally, be bathed in
a sheen of glory, but the evacuation of 338,000 allied troops (193,000 of whom
were British and the rest French) from the beaches of Dunkirk in May, 1940 has
generally been regarded as something of a miracle.
Christopher Nolan’s dramatic film about
this eye-popping World War 2 event – in which the British admiralty hoped to
rescue only 45,000 troops – certainly isn’t shy about the glory factor, at
least from a British point of view. If you’re French, on the other hand, you
may not be so happy.
The movie incorporates three narrative
strands: the (few) Spitfires battling the Luftwaffe, the pleasure boats that
puttered across the channel to pick up soldiers and finally the evacuation
itself and the experiences of soldiers waiting on the beaches.
Nolan expertly cross-cuts between each of
these elements, gradually building a momentum that takes us through the entire
film. Tom Hardy is a Spitfire pilot waging almost a lone battle against the
Luftwaffe; Mark Rylance is a civilian heading for Dunkirk in his pleasure craft
who picks up a traumatised soldier (Cillian Murphy) while Fionn Whitehead,
Harry Styles (formerly of the One Direction pop group) and Kenneth Branagh
represent the soldiers and their commanders going through shot, shell and
torpedo on the beaches.
One of the film’s most remarkable qualities
is its contracting and expanding of time. The three strands, labelled “The
Mole”, “The Sea” and “The Air” operate on different time scales. The action on
the beaches lasts for a week (roughly from May 26 until June 3), the pleasure
boat sea rescue takes one day and the Spitfire scenes comprise an hour’s flying
time. And yet so skillfully does Nolan intertwine them that they seem all of a
piece. Filmgoers might recall the director’s skill in this regard in his
previous films, Inception and Memento, but it is still a stunning
achievement.
Visually the film is a spectacular feast
for our eyeballs. The movie appears in various projection formats, including
the most spectacular, the Imax 70mm extravaganza, which I would recommend you
see. There is an almost lyrical quality to Hardy’s dogfights while some of the
beach scenes are jaw-dropping in their harsh majesty.
There are a few false notes – I found the
scenes in a fishing trawler washed up on the beach somewhat laboured and unlikely
– but in the main this is a magnificent spectacle, admirably shot by Hoyte van
Hoytema and scored by Hans Zimmer, that is well worth experiencing.
Dunkirk opened in Durban cinemas on July 28. – Patrick Compton
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