300 Words on "Dunkirk" (2017)

(Spoiler Free)

I saw Dunkirk in 70mm IMAX which was a truly immersive experience. The screen occupied an entire wall of the theater, the walls and floor shook, and the audience members actually jumped in their seats. And yet, I can confidently say that if you did not see Christopher Nolan’s latest film in this manner, it would still have made just as great an impact.

With a filmography consisting of great films all vying for the title of his best, Dunkirk manages to rank near the top for Nolan. It is an incredibly tense experience from the beginning, the action never letting up for a single moment. The film’s utilization of a nonlinear storyline only heightens the suspense, and there are scenes where the intercutting between one tense moment to another is nearly dizzying. Because of this, Dunkirk plays out more like a thriller, but immerses its viewer in the conflict itself perhaps better than any other war movie.

The film is also short on dialogue which only further emphasizes the dramatic set-pieces which make up the heart of Dunkirk. Despite this, the cast is simply brilliant. Fionn Whitehead serves as the audience surrogate in the midst of all the mayhem, and Whitehead, as a newcomer to the screen, holds his own with a cast of luminaries including Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, and Kenneth Branagh. Former boy band member Harry Styles may walk away with top honors simply stealing the show in some scenes. Who would have thought?

Dunkirk is a powerful movie not only in its breathless execution, but its resonant message. Once seen, it will linger long in the memory and while it may be hard to say that it eclipses other Nolan films like The Prestige or Inception in terms of imagination, it may very well be the director’s finest hour.