Nolan's Gravity

Dunkirk is Christopher Nolan's passion project. Same like Gravity is Alfonso Cuaron's passion project. Both are outstanding technical achievements. Both are short in their runtime. So basically Nolan just made a film worthy to envy Gravity's achievements, which is a weird compliment because Alfonso Cuaron and Christopher Nolan are two different directors. But yes, both are different films. Dunkirk, based on a true story unfamiliar to people outside the UK (or the Commonwealth at least), stars newcomers Fionn Whitehead & Harry Styles, backed up by greats Tommy-fucking-Shelby Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance and Tom Hardy.

The film plot is the evacuation of 400,000 soldiers from the city of Dunkerque in France, after the Allies + Brits gets pushed back by Germans. The story is told from three settings, land, air and sea. This story device/structure makes the film unique than other war films or other films in general. And it's very Nolan-y with his signature unconventional timeline. The film is technically superior. The sound design is over-the-top in a good way that it's perfect. I saw it in IMAX last week and it's amazing. The score by Hans Zimmer is very Zimmer-y but this film don't actually need a musical motif and Zimmer delivered a music that plays like a main cast member in the film. It is intense and you should blast the song when you're doing a project the night before deadline.

The actors in the film don't have much to do, because the film, like Gravity, is not an actor's film. But more than Gravity, the actors have more to do. Mark Rylance and Cillian Murphy are unquestionable greats and Tom Hardy spends most of the film acting with his left eye only. Damn. But the real test in this film is Harry Styles, which is like the equivalent of when you hear Rosie Huntington-Whiteley got cast in Fury Road. Like Rosie Huntington, Harry Styles did a good performance in this film. He even gets more lines than the Fionn Whitehead, who's in the poster. My only criticism in this film is sometimes the editing takes you out of the film. It could be Nolan's fault too and not only the editor. There are at least three moments that could have better editing. Two of them need more scenes to stitch the existing scenes and the other needs to be deleted. It's a small thing but it could annoy you. It's a tricky film to edit anyway with its complicated structure. But the film is still great. Just like Nolan claimed, the film needs to be experienced in the biggest theatre available with the loudest sound system available. And for that I wholeheartedly agree. Dunkirk: 3.5/4.


PS. Like Inception, Christopher Nolan can be unimaginative to preserve the realism (it's dreamscapes!). Go to the amazing tracking shot in Atonement to see Joe Wright's stellar depiction of the evacuation of Dunkirk.