Dunkirk ★★★★½

A gorgeous nightmare of salty water, wind, smoke and fear in ultra-HD.

I completely agree with someone who said that "Dunkirk" is not a movie, but an experience.
I'd say it's even more than that. For me, "Dunkirk" is an opportune moral lesson for today's world.

Throughout the movie, I was holding my breath, hard as a rock staring at the screen. It was almost as if I could physically feel the tension in the air.
Much of this achievement can be attributed to Hans Zimmer's spectacular soundtrack.
Nolan made a point of using a famous sounding trick to keep this constant sensation of danger.
This trick is called "Shepard tone" and consists of a sound illusion that makes the listener think that the volume is always increasing (or falling), but actually keeps the tone on the same level.
It is not new, but Nolan makes this illusion a main and essential feature of this experience. And his bet works brilliantly.

An eternal state of alert permeates the entire film from start to finish. Such constant sensation allows audiences to understand the desperation of their protagonists, especially in relation to Cillian Murphy's character, who in any other film would be treated unilaterally as just a villain. But here, the characters have brains, and more importantly, they know how to value the sacrifice of each one there.

Of all the spectacular sequences of this film, a simple gesture of a character ended up leaving a bigger mark on me than anything else. It was when the son of Mark Rylance's character, even though he was very angry, chose to omit the harsh truth from Murphy's character because he understood that that man, even though he had committed mistakes, made enormous sacrifices for all of them, and that he will suffer the devastating consequences of this war throughout his life.

I don't want to be rude, but anyone who says "Dunkirk" has shallow characters sounds like an idiot.

The best and most effective way of developing characters is done exactly during the conflict, when their lives are at stake, when it's all or nothing. At this point, the characters show who they really are. Their real strengths and weaknesses.
It isn't necessary, especially in such a conflict-filled film, to stop the whole narrative so that the characters can talk about banalities, which may or may not be true representations of their character.

It's as if "Dunkirk" had cut off the fat and just focused on being perfectionist in the essential parts.

I know that Nolan makes clear that his film has more than one protagonist, but for me, Tommy, Fionn Whitehead's character, stands a step above the others. I was more worried about him than anyone else, and that's a big achievement because I love Tom Hardy.
Tommy was our avatar, our eyes during this beautiful nightmare. An excellent performance by Fionn.

Talking about Tom, again he gave us a show in a tiny space and practically using only his eyes to demonstrate emotions. Another fantastic work and another 10/10 for his brilliant career. Also, Harry Styles can act. Shortly after his presentation, I forgot the celebrity and only saw the character. Good work too.

It's funny, not to say ridiculous, that some people are criticizing Nolan for choosing to shoot "Dunkirk" using an IMAX camera because there are still few theaters that have the technology to reproduce the true IMAX.
This guy had the courage to use this very expensive technology to build his new dream with the highest quality possible. This is a great incentive for the global film industry to invest more in this technology, and should be celebrated.

And I have no idea how Nolan managed to capture these incredible images, especially in aerial sequences. The scene with the airplane hovering over the beach with the engine off gave me a lump in the throat.

I don't think there was a lack of carnage either. Exposed guts would have stolen attention during the experience of sound and tension that the director wanted to present.
Besides, the muffled cries of the drowning soldiers in the sinking ships are enough to send a shiver down the spine.

To conclude, I must confess that it has been a long time since I was deeply touched by a film in the cinema.
When the captain noticed dark spots on the horizon and took the binoculars to identify what they were, I already thought that it were more bodies being brought by the tide.
When I saw what they really were, my eyes filled with tears.

"Dunkirk" is much more than a tribute to Nolan's compatriots and the noble spirit of partnership between men. It's also a magnificent work in all aspects led by a director who seems to be in the maximum exercise of his capacities, in total harmony and control of the grandiose experience he wishes to give to the world.
In addition, "Durkirk" is also a great tribute to the courage of men and boys who risked and still risk their lives fighting in wars to save our skins.
And there's nothing wrong with that.

9.5/10 - EXCELLENT

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