Dunkirk - Review- Immersion in the Virtual Machinery of War

This movie is LOUD. Real LOUD. 

From the first scene to the very end, the viewer is immersed in sound. It is disorientating and nail-biting. An over-the-top soundtrack amplifies the fear and tension. It peirces the body and soul. It’s Phillip Glass on steroids-- Einstein on the Beach meets Louder Than Bombs. It’s more like a rattling machine than a soundtrack. It builds and builds until you can’t stand it anymore and then it builds some more. Some veterans are even saying this movie was louder than the real thing. 

Half a million troops on the beach waiting to get out before their presumed slaughter. The storyline is disected into three vignettes, by air, by sea and by land. A week, a day, and an hour. And then it is dissected into several sub-vignettes. It is tunnel-vision and fog of war combined as we are thrust into the predicament without any explanation. It's up to the viewer to figure out what’s going on with little in the way of dialogue. 

The clock is ticking as soldiers wait for rescue. A volunteer armada of small vessels from the south of England go as fast they can across the channel. In the air, three Spitfire pilots with a finite amount of fuel leave to provide air support encountering deadly Luftwaffe planes along the way. Back at the beach soldiers are doing whatever they can do to survive. 

This film is experiential rather than linear. It’s aim is to get the viewer to viscerally feel the action as opposed to following a storyline. It is crammed with visuals and asks the viewer to sort things out for themselves. 

Dunkirk is different kind of war movie and avoids the usual cliche’s. Unlike, say a Spielberg film, all sentimentality and emotional manipulation is avoided but not entirely absent. One is only asked to ponder the sentimental and sanctimonious implications after being immersed in the virtual machinery of war. It may not be the best war movie ever made but it may be one of the most realistic.  And did I say it was loud?