Director – Christopher Nolan – 2017 – UK – Cert. 12a – 106m
*****
Review originally published in DMovies.org. On Amazon Prime from Thursday, April 1st.
British filmmaker Christopher Nolan – now one of the highest-grossing film directors in history, with the Dark Knight trilogy under his belt – has created a complex and multilayered film that cleverly interweaves three separate narrative strands: 1) on land over a week a young soldier (Fionn Whitehead) after he arrives alone at Dunkirk beach and falls in with others (including the music superstar and heartthrob Harry Styles); 2) on sea over a day a small, requisitioned, civilian boat (crew: three) go to bring home trapped combatants; and 3) in the air over an hour three Spitfires fly a sortie.
Nolan is fascinated by time and runs these in parallel so that an incident partly revealed in one strand is later retold in another revealing more. There’s a constant sense of the clock ticking differently in the three time frames: mind-bending and exhilarating stuff.
Full review at DMovies.org.
On Amazon Prime from Thursday, April 1st.
Trailers:
Original UK theatrical release: Friday, July 21st 2017.