Land, Sea and Air- Dunkirk: The Review
I have waited months and months to see this film, so naturally I was gutted when I couldn’t see it the first month it came out. I had so much going on in July, with me starting a new job, graduating and moving houses, I couldn’t find the time to spare to see Dunkirk.
Alas, the time came when my family came up to see me and I suggested we go out to see Dunkirk. Naturally, they said no. Everyone in the family has different tastes in movies, and with showstoppers like ‘It’ and ‘Victoria and Abdul’ in the cinema, it wasn’t their first choice. Thankfully, they agreed to watch it with me.
Frankly, I was surprised to see it was still being played in the cinema.
The film was a combination of favourites. I’m a huge fan of Christopher Nolan, I adore his work. I love films about history, it’s always great watching something that entertains and educates. And the film was full of talented actors. Many of you will know, I’m a huge One Direction fan, so the added bonus was seeing Harry Styles hit the big screen. Naturally, I wasn’t disappointed by his acting. The boy can do no wrong.
I’m a big wuss when it comes to films, and I found this one a real tear jerker. I’m not immensely educated when it comes to war, but the execution of the past had me holding back tears. I really liked the lack of character background for each of the main characters. I totally understand that a background and some knowledge of the main characters allows you to connect with them and understand them a little better, but somehow not knowing anything about them made me feel connected to them. I wanted them all to survive, I wanted them all to go home to their families, I wanted to know the part they play in the film and I wanted to cry when things went from bad to worse. There was a scene where Tommy, Alex and Gibson are sat on the beach, watching a man drown himself. I can’t even begin to explain how at that moment, I realised how real this film was. How real such events were.
Considering it was a non-linear movie, everything somehow managed to flow in chronological order. The characters somehow managed to be connected to each other, one way or another. I don’t mean in relations, I mean they were connected in how one plot line helped the other and how each action, favoured and helped a disaster. The film was broken up in three parts: The Mole, The Sea and The Air. Each part had a different time frame; it was a week on land, one day at sea and an hour in the air.
The land part of the film followed leading man Tommy (portrayed by Fionn Whitehead), a young British private who managed to escape an attack. As the film progresses, he is joined by two others: another young boy called Gibson (portrayed by Aneurin Barnard) and Alex (portrayed by Harry Styles). Both Tommy and Alex survive at the end of the film. Unfortunately, Gibson, who is later revealed to be a French soldier, doesn’t make it.
The sea part of the film followed father and son sailing to Dunkirk. The father, Mr Dawson (portrayed by Mark Rylance) is a mariner. The son is played by Tom Glynn-Carney. Their young friend George (portrayed by Barry Keoghan) is also on the boat, but sadly the innocent character doesn’t survive the entire film. They save Tommy and Alex and many others from a sinking ship and from burning to death in the water.
(I don’t know much about spitfires, etc. so please correct me if I say anything wrong). The air part of the film sees three spitfires. They are piloted by Collins (portrayed by Jack Lowden) and Farrier (portrayed by Tom Hardy). Collins spitfire is damaged by a German attacker and he lands straight into the water. In the course of almost drowning to death, he is saved by Peter and his dad. Farrier continues to shoot down the attackers, and the film ends with him a hero and also a prisoner.
I would go into more detail about what happened in the film, but frankly I’m scared I might explain it wrong! The moment that had me in tears was finding out 300,000 men had been evacuated from the beach. For anyone who has seen the film, they will know it lacks in speech. The lack in speech in the movie somehow worked in its favour. The film as a whole, managed to speak on so many levels with the scenes playing out, it didn’t need verbal commentary to add to it. You already knew what would happen and you were already rooting for them to survive.
I have to praise Christopher Nolan, his writing and directing was spectacular. Most the actors in the film experienced training sessions to understand how these men lived on the beach. Both Styles and Whitehead undertook this training. Nolan did well with the casting. He’s worked with Hardy before, so naturally, it was nice seeing his face in the film. Styles was also a great choice (not saying that because I love him to bits or anything), I still find it hard to believe he didn’t really know just how famous Harry was! And Fionn was amazing as the lead. His innocent look somehow managed to grasp how young some of these men were that were trapped in Dunkirk.
I’m still so disappointed in myself for taking so long to see this. But honestly, the wait was worth it. I can’t really explain how great of a film it is. So instead, I will let David Edelstein who writes for Vulture, put it into words for me:
‘Somewhere inside the mess that is Dunkirk is a terrific linear movie.’
If there’s one film that should be on your watch list, it’s this. You won’t regret it.
Stay lovely x.
A/N: All rights of the images used in this blog post go to the original owners.
