The Director’s Cut: Dunkirk

SPOILERS INCOMING.

Dunkirk has been out for a week now, and after an incredible £10 million opening weekend here in the UK, it’s time to go into the details that will potentially ruin the enjoyment of this incredible film for audiences who haven’t seen it. So, if you haven’t already seen Dunkirk, don’t even hit that ‘keep reading’ button. Go out, see it big, and see it loud- preferably in glorious 70mm IMAX. Right, that’s that done, so after seeing the film for a second time (in another of the newly refurbished screens at my local cinema), it’s time to go deep into spoiler territory.

This film is BRUTAL for a 12a certificate

Christopher Nolan has made this very clear that this isn’t your run of the mill war movie, claiming that it is more of a suspense piece. That doesn’t stop him from creating some brutal moments. There is a lot, and I mean a lot of death in this film. There isn’t any blood, but the costs of war are depicted very well, and the deliberate choice to not show the enemy really hits audiences hard, and combined with the really tight pacing and the incredibly short running time, this is what keeps the film going as an edge of seat experience. Both audiences that I attended had a huge reaction to the moment where Cillian Murphy’s Shivering Soldier character accidentally killed George (played excellently by Barry Keoghan) during the Sea sections of the film. Even the dogfights in the air portions of the film have that brutality as a key theme, and that is a bold move for a film that can be accessed by pretty much anyone.

The narrative structure

This bit reminded me a lot of Memento. Dunkirk is told from 3 different perspectives- the land (over the course of a week), the sea (over the course of a day), and the air (over the course of an hour). This is the part of the film that will confuse many audiences, but, it’s a clever cinematic technique, especially during the moments where these timelines overlap. Nolan is known for making some pioneering yet confusing narratives (just look at Inception), but in all seriousness, this is what makes Dunkirk feels like a breath of fresh air- it’s a film that makes you put your thinking caps on.

Nolan’s trademark collaborations

It wouldn’t be a Nolan film without Hans Zimmer. Once again, they’ve rewritten the rulebook, taking the best of The Dark Knight and blending it with Zimmer’s work on The Thin Red Line. If anything, the music plays a key part to the story, especially during that scene when the little ships arrive- it may be the best use of Elgar’s Nimrod I’ve seen in a film. Another thing to look out for is a subtle Michael Caine cameo as the voice who speaks to Farrier during the first act- as a huge fan of Nolan’s work, that made me very, very happy indeed.

The ending

Most of Nolan’s films are open-ended. This one is no exception. Following their return home, that final shot on the train could not have been done better. Nolan wanted to get that idea of survival as victory across, and with Alex (Harry Styles) refusing to take credit as a hero, this is where the film’s emotional payoff really hits home. Both audiences that I seen this film with were hit ‘right in the feels’ as they would say on social media, and that’s the sign of top quality filmmaking.

As I said in my initial review last week, this is truly a film that deserves the big screen treatment, so if you’ve seen it already, see it again to take it all in. You really can pick up more on a second viewing.