Dunkirk is a war film based on the events that took place during the Dunkirk evacuation during World War 2. The film was written, produced, and directed by renowned director Christopher Nolan, who is known for his other work such as The Dark Knight, Interstellar, and Memento.
Dunkirk is a portrayal of the three different perspectives of the famous evacuation, namely, see, land, and air. Although there is very little dialogue throughout the film, much of Nolan’s skill comes to bear as he tells a story through visuals and a powerful musical score.
The film was highly reviewed by critics and filmgoers alike, with many praising its direction, screenplay, and cinematography, and being cited as Nolan’s best work to date, as well as one of the best war films of the modern era.
Dunkirk received eight nominations at the Critics’ Choice Awards, of which is won for Best Editing. It also received a further eight nominations at the British Academy Film Awards, taking home the award for Best Sound.
At the 90th Academy Awards, the film received another eight nominations, including those for Best Picture and Best Director, and won Best Sound Editing, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound Mixing. It’s a moving depiction of the acts World War 2, and is sure to give film lovers a good 2 hours of entertainment before they get back to enjoying the real slots NZ have to offer.
The Story
The story starts on a bleak beach in 1940, with thousands of Allied soldiers standing in vast lines on the beach, waiting to board the passenger ships that have come to pick them up. We are then introduced to Tommy, a British private who is the only survivor of a German ambush.
After making his way on to the beach, he meets another soldier, Gibson just before Germans dive-bomb the beach in an attempt to kill the waiting soldiers. With many being wounded, Gibson and Tommy see the opportunity to take a wounded soldier on board a hospital ship.
The ship is destroyed by more dive-bombers, but the two soldiers manage to get off before it sinks into the bay. With only one military ship available for transport, the British government calls for civilians to begin making their way across the English Channel. We are then introduced to more characters as each of their stories is broken down and timed into a converging point during the film.
We follow a civilian man, his son, and his son’s friend as they cast off to reach France in order to evacuate soldiers, and come across a stranger floating on a wreckage in the middle of the sea. In the sky, we meet the pilots of three Spitfires as they make their way across the English Channel and encounter German planes before their leader is shot down.
By the end of the film, over 300,000 soldiers have been successfully transported off of the beach by the hundreds of civilian boats that make the rescue journey.