‘Dunkirk’ review: it’s about as Brexity a film as you could make right now

Tom Guise
Tom Guise
Jul 20, 2017 · 3 min read
Bane in a plane: Tom Hardy as Spitfire pilot Farrier in Dunkirk

Also the most immersive recreation of being in a war zone put to film…

Dunkirk is about as Brexity a film as you could make right now. It’s literally about the British getting out of Europe as quickly as they can. Everyone in it is white and British in that Mr Kipling’s Bramley Apple Pies kind of way. There are even a couple of moments where they push a few French guys away and say something along the lines of “Piss off, British only!” Theresa May should get behind this one like Reagan did Rambo. It’s very strong and extremely stable.

But being that Christopher Nolan wrote the film 25 years ago, that’s clearly unintentional, much like turning Occupy Wall Street into Bane in The Dark Knight Rises was a coincidence. Speaking of which, Tom Hardy’s Spitfire pilot is pretty much Bane, both (in)audibly and visually, strapped as he is into yet another muzzle – this one an aviator’s mask. By the way, this film has the best WWII aerial dogfights you’ll ever see. It’s obviously been filmed with real planes, and it’s incredible.

If you’re expecting a ‘normal’ film from Nolan at last, you’re going to be let down but not disappointed. He can’t resist dicking around with the narrative structure. In fact, I’m surprised he didn’t film it backwards. It doesn’t have much of a plot, it’s just events unfolding. And there aren’t the usual war movie themes of heroism or sacrifice — it’s just people trying to survive. Which makes it feel very real in a way that even the opening of Saving Private Ryan, with a clear focus on the protagonists, didn’t. This film is strangely bloodless. You don’t see or hear a single German soldier. They’re only referred to as “the enemy”. But it is intense and very harrowing. Without really knowing, I imagine this is as close as you can get to experiencing what it feels like to be in a war-zone through the medium of film. Especially on a giant screen. I saw this in 70mm IMAX and I recommend you do too. If you watch this one on your laptop again like you did Gravity, don’t complain that it’s rubbish.

It all looks incredible, especially since Nolan used his stellar Interstellar cinematographer, Hoyte van Hoytema (whose name is a mandelbrot). And being Nolan, it has shades of his previous films and others that clearly inspired him. There’s a scene of loads of helmets strewn on the beach that’s reminiscent of The Prestige, he mucks around a bit with our understanding of which way ‘up’ is, and he clearly had a big wank over Chariots of Fire before this. I’ve also never seen a film that makes jam on bread seem so haunting. And that includes the Von Trapps stalling the Nazis with an epic Jam and Bread finale at the Salzburg Music Festival.

It’s a short film at only one hour and 40 minutes, but don’t think you can get away with necking two beers beforehand like I did. There’s a lot of flowing water — flushing through doors and trickling through holes. By the last 10 minutes of the film I was more desperate than anyone on-screen. Make sure you pee in advance, but it doesn’t matter whether you go for a number two, because once Hans Zimmer reaches full pitch on the Shepard scale with his Stradivarius, you’ll poo in your pants regardless.

So in summary, it’s a really bleak film with not much plot, no heroes, a suspiciously UKIP undertone, Bane on a plane, and a soundtrack that will make you soil yourself. I can’t think of anyone who could make this kind of film right now and turn it into a summer blockbuster except Christopher Nolan. It will probably win nine Oscars and I thoroughly recommend it. But not as a date movie. Unless you go with your Gran. She’ll like seeing that nice Harry Styles from One Direction. If you take your elderly father though, he’ll likely complain that Kenneth Branagh isn’t as good as Olivier.

Dunkirk is out at cinemas on July 21.

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Tom Guise

Written by

Tom Guise

Writer/editor at Red Bull’s lifestyle magazine, The Red Bulletin. My thoughts here are my own.

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