By Murtaza Ali Khan
Featured in IMDb Critic Reviews
Dunkirk is the latest offering from the celebrated Hollywood filmmaker Christopher
Nolan. The story is set during the Second World War and revolves around the
famous Dunkirk evacuation. The operation which lasted over a week paved the way
for rescue of over 300,000 soldiers, mostly from Belgium, Britain, and France,
who were left stranded at Dunkirk, situated in the north of France, with the
German army closing in on them. It had proven to be a crushing defeat for
Britain and its allies. While evacuation is generally looked down upon it
certainly sounded more strategic than surrender at the time, for it ensured
that the defeated Allied forces lived to fight another day. Dunkirk's ensemble
cast is a mix of Nolan regulars like Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy and thespians
like Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance.
Dunkirk is by far the weakest film that Christopher Nolan has made. For
a film dealing with hope and survival, it is cold, hollow and completely devoid
of emotions. Here is a film that looks like a video game playing in the demo
mode. It is a result of a wafer thin plot that's further marred by the lack of
character development. It is here that Jonathan Nolan’s contribution as a writer
becomes evident with reference to some of Christopher Nolan’s best works,
including Memento and The Prestige.
Now, some of the reviews of Dunkirk available on the internet don’t really
come across as reviews; they sound more like eulogies. And that’s what amazes
me. Perhaps all those who are calling it an immersive experience have watched
it while being under the influence of artificial stimulant(s), for the film
itself has little to incite anybody's senses. The only consolation is that
everything you see is actually captured by a motion picture camera without any computer-generated
graphics. However, I don't mind the use of computer-generated graphics as long
as the technology can make movies more engaging for me. Dunkirk could have been
a far better film had Nolan condescended to consciously study timeless
thrillers like The Wages of Fear or
his own early films beforehand.
Speaking of Dunkirk, there are supposed to be 300,000 men on the beach
and yet we can’t really sense their presence. Sergei Eisenstein’s created a
bigger event in Battleship Potemkin’s Odessa Steps sequence with less than one
percent of the resources that are as Nolan’s disposal. Also, the war scenes in
his Ivan the Terrible look far grander.
We can compare the two filmmakers because Nolan is a big advocate for shooting
on film and is averse to the use of computer-generated graphics unless
absolutely necessary. Also, one of Nolan’s greatest inspirations, Stanley Kubrick
created much greater stir with less than ten percent of the resources in Paths of Glory and Full Metal Jacket. Steven
Spielberg with near about the same resources as Nolan created an epic war film that’s
at least ten times better than Dunkirk, Saving
Private Ryan. Now some people would say in Nolan’s defense that Dunkirk isn’t
a war movie and even if we buy that Nolan’s film fails to do justice to the
enormous scale of Dunkirk’s evacuation which Winston Churchill described as 'miracle
of deliverance'. We neither see those men nor feel the panic at large. Even the
rescue by small boats at the end looks rather unimpressive for a movie that
claims to provide an immersive experience of the iconic event. Also, Nolan has
some gifted actors at his disposal but he fails to use them to his advantage. A
filmmaker of Nolan’s stature just cannot be excused for such glaring shortcomings.
Whatever there’s to appreciate about Dunkirk it is mostly because of the
efforts to two men: Hans Zimmer and Hoyte van Hoytema. It is impossible to
imagine the film without the brilliant show that these two masters put up. Zimmer’s
background score is of course the soul of the film. It is impossible to imagine
any Nolan film without a Zimmer score and, in particular, Dunkirk. Also, it
wouldn’t be wrong to consider Hoytema as a co-author of Dunkirk, along with
Nolan and Zimmer. Undoubtedly, it is his breathtaking cinematography that allows
Nolan to realize his vision. Alas, as the captain of the ship, Nolan certainly
lets everybody down with his whimsical filmmaking decisions! He believes in
giving his viewers an immersive cinematic experience but then why doesn’t he
rely on the computer-generated imagery to create the illusion of a large army when he can depend upon the
same for several sequences of Interstellar? If a less accomplished filmmaker
like S.S. Rajamouli can stir up our emotions with far better conviction (Baahubali
and Baahubali 2 are great examples) through the use of computer-generated imagery then it is certainly
Nolan’s loss to remain so stubborn in an age driven by technology.
Rating: 4.5/10
Readers, please feel free to share your opinion by leaving your comments. As always your valuable thoughts are highly appreciated!
Dunkirk - Official Trailer (YouTube)
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