Starring: Fionn Whitehead, Aneurin Barnard, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy, Harry Styles, Barry Keoghan, Tom Glynn-Carney, Cillian Murphy.
Director: Christopher Nolan
Release date: 21st July 2017
It’s the early part of 1940 and World War II is still at its height. We meet a young British soldier who comes under fire from enemy troops but is rescued by Allied forces. He stumbles upon the beach at Dunkirk and is shocked to discover the scale and amount of Troops waiting there; 400,000 men. He sees that they are loading troops onto ships and ends up chancing his arm with another soldier and they carry a body on a stretcher to try and get onto the ship. Meanwhile back in England, the call has gone out for civilians with boats to head over to Dunkirk to rescue the stranded troops. Mr Dawson (Mark Rylance) and his son, Peter and Peter’s friend, George dodge the Royal Navy guys who are trying to commandeer boats and they set sail for Dunkirk and into the unknown. Back in Dunkirk, all hell is breaking loose… Enemy fighter planes are flying over the beach and shooting randomly at the soldiers, who have little or no cover whatsoever. The thousands of soldiers are like sitting ducks. Three British spitfire pilots have their work cut out for them, trying to take down the German bombers before they can cause too much damage. We follow a small group of British soldiers who are trying their best to get off the beach, even hiding out in a beached boat.
Can the civilian boats make their way to Dunkirk safely and rescue the thousands of British soldiers, bringing them home to their waiting families in England?
The events of Dunkirk have famously gone down in British and World History. It took place in France during the Second World War and was part of the Battle of France. It involved the evacuation of British and Allied Troops from the beaches of Dunkirk between 26th May and 4th June 1940. Winston Churchill had only just been elected as Prime Minister and immediately he had his work cut out for himself. Miraculously just over 300,000 men, including European troops managed to get on board around 800 different vessels and escape the constant bombings.
British born Director/ writer Christopher Nolan, has become well known in recent years for his huge Blockbuster movies, including The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception and Interstellar. This new one is everything you’d expect one of his films to be. The scale is absolutely breath-taking and you almost feel like you’re on the beach with these brave but very scared men. There’s a relatively small cast that you interact with throughout the movie, and for pretty much the whole of the first half hour, there is no dialog whatsoever. It’s all about the emotion portrayed on the men’s faces. There’s also the Soundtrack, done by the always amazing Hans Zimmer. It drives the movie along, without being too over powering or over bearing.
The story of the men at Dunkirk is a famous one, but still one that more people should be educated about. I definitely think that ‘Dunkirk’ should be shown in all British Comprehensive schools in the future and kids should know more about the sacrifices these men made for their countries.
I found ‘Dunkirk’ to be a very emotional film.. It almost felt like you’re watching a documentary about events that actually happened back in those dark days. A Blockbuster movie but not in the conventional sense of the word, I think people who go and see this will come out of the movie feeling a sense of awe and wonder. The fact that we know this story actually happened makes the movie that more ‘real’ and makes you feel things you might not necessary feel if you were watching say, a Rom-Com or a Sci-Fi movie.
Please do make sure you try and see ‘Dunkirk’ on the big screen. A movie that will make you feel many different emotions, it’s not your usual ‘Christopher Nolan’ offering but I honestly think you’ll enjoy it. Go see it and be educated and entertained at the same time.
Overall: 8.5/10
