Dunkirk

Dunkirk is four stories that are loosely tied together, all providing a glimpse of the evacuation that allowed the British to save its army and ignominious defeat.

First, there is Tommy (Fionn Whitehead), a young soldier who is wandering the streets of Dunkirk with a handful of other soldiers when they are suddenly fired upon.  He is the only one who escapes and finds himself with thousands of soldiers milling on the beach, waiting for evacuation.  But Tommy is not prepared to wait his turn.  He has the misfortune of being aboard two separate ships that sink.  Tommy is not a laudable character but we get to see a lot of him.

Second, there is the officers in charge of the evacuation, namely Commander Bolton (Kenneth Branaugh) and Colonel Winnant (James D'Arcy).  Mostly, they stand on the end of the pier and explain the dire situation, serving as de facto narrators.  Though important for the narrative, they are static characters of little interest.

Third, there are the Spitfire pilots, Farrier (Tom Hardy) and Collins (Jack Lowden).  This storyline is the most exciting, providing the majority of the action as the two pilots must keep track of their fuel consumption, watch out for enemy fighters, and protect ships from German bombers.  Hardy shines as an unflappable fighter pilot.

Finally, there is the Moonstone, a private boat piloted by Mr. Dawson (Mark Rylance) and crewed by his son Peter and young George Miller.  This is the best story of the bunch, showing a civilian craft taking part in the rescue of the British military.  During the trip to Dunkirk, they pickup a soldier (Cillian Murphy) from a sunken ship, rescue Collins from his ditched Spitfire, and fish a couple dozen more soldiers from a sunken destroyer.  Also, they recover Tommy.  Like Hardy's fighter pilot, Rylance is insouciant in the face of danger, a stark contrast to some of the soldiers he rescued.

 

The movie tries to strike a balance between the big picture and the individual characters.  In so doing, it felt like it missed both.  There are too many characters and this is the story of too many people.  The holding action that protected the beach for the evacuation is entirely absent.  It is a war movie with surprisingly little fighting.  All too often, the characters are just sitting ducks for German dive bombers or unseen snipers.

 

Not a bad film but clearly Nolan's weakest film.  Hardy and Rylance were great but I could have done without the rest of it.  This is material for a documentary, not an entertaining movie.  It is tough to adapt a catastrophic retreat to the big screen and Nolan did about as well as can be expected.  I am reminded of Monty Python and the Holy Grail:

Brave Sir Robin ran away.
Bravely ran away away.
When danger reared it's ugly head,
He bravely turned his tail and fled.
Yes, brave Sir Robin turned about
And gallantly he chickened out.
Swiftly taking to his feet,
He beat a very brave retreat.
Bravest of the brave, Sir Robin!

 

It is hard to make a heroic film out of Dunkirk, especially when as much attention is paid to those fleeing as those rescuing.