Monday 14 August 2017

DUNKIRK: A review

I recognise I'm pretty late to this party but last week I saw Dunkirk and regardless of anything else it was a lesson in cinematography.

WARNING: MANY SPOILERS

I'll admit I was affected by location and circumstance. The day before I had made that same journey, to Dunkirk and then on to Paris with my 10 year old godson, albeit we went under, not over the ocean. Travelling on the metro we saw signs for the film with its French spelling (Dunkerque) and I thought about how a French director or screenwriter might have written a slightly different film.

I went to see the film when I was staying with my parents, at a budget friendly, no frills cinema on Canvey Island. Driving to and from the cinema I drove along that same coastline that had sent the little fishing boats from Leigh on Sea to their heroic adventure; the story of the Dunkirk flotilla is written into our local story. Both the French and Essex experiences helped a long-distant event feel very present to me.

And that's to say nothing of the cinematography. There are some political aspects to this film which I will come around to, but first I want to tell you about the incredible creativity that was poured out on this highly stylised film quite so effectively.

Blue and Grey

Colour and musical tone were used to great effect. Everything was different shades of blue and grey for a long time; despair was played out in monochrome monotony - the sea and sky became indistinguishable at the horizon and I really believed like the men at sea that maybe help was never coming. This was echoed in Hans Zimmer's score - all minor chords and constant suspense. Christopher Nolan is well known for his use of the Shepard tone - its a corkscrew effect that makes you feel as if the music is constantly climbing and it sets your teeth on edge - he uses it to good effect in this film.



But when the fleet of ships arrive all of this changes the little boat is full of colour - the sailor's jumper, the hull of the boat, the women on the other ships - warm reds and oranges explode onto the screen in this triumph of hope. This glory is reflected in the music which changes to major and we get this brief reprieve from the Shepard Tone. This is epitomised in the final flight of Farrier to Elgar's Nimrod - all major chords and full colour; hope for the soldiers and for us.



Our glorious past?

Whilst the majority of the film feels hopeless and disastrous and not at all glamorous I would define it as a patriotic film. Through thoroughly limited dialogue a large emphasis is put on the role of 'home', and putting Churchill's words into the mouth of an ordinary soldier was very effective at underlining the sacrifice of 'the few'. It did make every body out to be heroes - Nolan shows some awareness of this in the heroic write up of George, killed by his own side but declared a war hero in the paper, but the rest of the film argues against this. Commander Bolton chooses to 'wait for the French' at the end of the film instead of getting the boat home, he chooses certain death; although Dad pointed out to me this is a charming nod to the 50's films I felt it was a bit dramatic.

The issue I take with this film is the effect it had on me, I left the cinema thinking, 'you know what we need? A jolly good war!'. And that scares me because I am by nature a fairly peaceful soul; somebody more prone to conflict would be easily fired up by the narrative.

Like any story you do have to simplify the facts for the sake of a good story, but I agree with Sharmal that there was significant white-washing in this film - and the featured token person of colour was tokenism exemplified. Although the stance taken by Nolan on this was inline with the narrative we are told in schools there was a real opportunity here to tell less known stories; it is a shame that opportunity was missed.

In summary this is a powerful piece of cinema, expertly composed, that will rightly win many awards; entertainment does not always have to be educational - and it certainly was an education in cinematography - but I do wish we had been told a story of somebody new that recognised the complexity of war, rather than glorification of the armed forces.