Dunkirk is probably one of the best war movies ever made, it certainly has one of the most breathtaking sceneries and cinematography. hoyte van hoytema’s images are sensational.
it’s nolan’s most emotional work too. he’s always been more of a cerebral director, often burying human emotions in his impressive albeit gimmicky conceptions. in dunkirk he finds a new visual form for the war movie. instead of limbs flying around we see silent drownings and soldiers being knocked down like tin figures.
nolan moves from close ups to extreme wide shots. from personal tragedies to the infinite absurdity of war. there’s nothing in between. the characters have no backstory. bc they don’t need one. we all know their backstories from remarque or hemingway. we all know they have someone at home waiting for them. we all know they’re just kids.
in the absence of dialogue nolan fills the screen with all the war stories that we’ve seen and read in the past. and he fills our ears with the deafening sound of messerschmitts, spitfires and explosions.
dunkirk is no patriotic fest either. he shows the animalistic instincts of survival and the tensions between the allies.
in the end around 300.000 soldiers were rescued (100.000 were french). and in the end all that was left was

– L.M