Dunkirk: Unconventional

Chikai Ohazama
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read

In most films today, if you see a guy get shot or wounded, you see blood. If there is a battle, you see the face of the enemy. If you are thrust into an epic war story, you are given an exposition to give you context on what is going on. If you have a huge star like Tom Hardy, you give him more than ten lines. If you mess with the time line, you use cues like flashbacks or some text overlay noting the date. And last but not least, you use a lot of special effects.

None of this happens in Dunkirk. You never see blood when someone gets shot, instead you see the horror in the faces of his fellow soldiers. You aren’t told what came before Dunkirk or what happens after, not even a closing text description like many historic films use at the end, but all you need to know is the relationship between the fisherman and the soldiers trying to get back home across the channel. Tom Hardy is stuck in a cockpit the whole film with a mask covering most of his face except at the very end, but all you need to see are his eyes to feel the strength of his performance. Time is irrelevant, night scenes are juxtaposed next to day scenes, things are out of order, but there is a visual rhythm to the film, a musical rhythm to the film, that ties it all together and strangely it makes sense, the audience is never confused and it is all used masterfully to accelerate the intensity.

And special effects are few and far between, they are used to punctuate the rhythm of the film. But the bigger “special effect” is the sound. The dynamic range of the film is astonishing. The screeching of the planes is so loud as compared to the decibels of people’s voices, you can feel it in your teeth. And sound comes out of nowhere, it goes from silence to explosions in a split second, jolting you into realizing that those soldiers are in a war zone where you may be shot at or bombs may drop at any time.¹

Dunkirk is a masterpiece in the most unconventional way, it harkens back to Hitchcock and films of that era, using the audience, trusting the audience, believing in the intelligence and imagination of the audience to make a film extraordinary.


¹ One subtle reason why you should see Dunkirk in the theater is the sound. If you were at home watching this movie, you would have instinctively turn down the volume with your remote control as soon as you heard the guns firing or planes screeching by because it is so loud as compared to every other sound in the movie. In the theater, you have no way of turning down the sound, so you are forced to feel what the soldiers probably felt when they heard the guns and planes. The full experience of both sight and sound can only really be had in the theater.

Orange Filter Films

A collection of films inspired by recent news or random thoughts.

Chikai Ohazama

Written by

Working on @Muxgram. Previously Google Earth/Maps. Occasionally write about films (medium.com/orange-filter-films).

Orange Filter Films

A collection of films inspired by recent news or random thoughts.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade