Film Illiterate, wherein the proprietor records movies seen, and sporadic progress through assorted lists of the "best". Originally started after regretfully renting something forgettable for the third time. I've forgotten what, but never again! A tedious endeavour since 2005. Hello. 🙂
I was skeptical that there was anything new left to do in a war movie, but I was wrong. We've had visceral immersion, patriotic rah-rah, cynical takes, close-up psychological studies etc. etc. Nolan has a reputation for making cold, puzzle-box films and he plays to his strengths; I've never experienced a film so centered on soldiers' distance and alienation from the instruments of war.
Death in Dunkirk comes from enemies unseen. Bullets fly from offscreen, fighter pilots strike from the glare of the sun, bombs fall from untouchable, unreachable distance. The action of Saving Private Ryan's Omaha Beach is a far cry from Dunkirk's grey light and queues of silent, miserable men waiting in the open for rescue or death. I've never experienced a war film so much about waiting.
The contrasting perspectives -- Cillian Murphy's shivering, shell-shocked rescuee; Tom Hardy's calm pilot dealing death from a distance -- add up to a uniquely horrifying portrayal of the old "long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror", but also one with a uniquely uplifting payoff. Wonderful.