Storyline
Evacuation of Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Empire, and France, who were cut off and surrounded by the German army from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, France, between May 26- June 04, 1940, during Battle of France in World War II.
Cast: Fionn Whitehead -
Tommy
Damien Bonnard -
French Soldier
Aneurin Barnard -
Gibson
Lee Armstrong -
Grenadier
James Bloor -
Irate Soldier
Barry Keoghan -
George
Mark Rylance -
Mr. Dawson
Tom Glynn-Carney -
Peter
Tom Hardy -
Farrier
Jack Lowden -
Collins
Luke Thompson -
Warrant Officer
Michel Biel -
French Soldier 2
Constantin Balsan -
French Soldier 3
Billy Howle -
Petty Officer
Mikey Collins -
Soldier
Taglines:
When 400,000 men couldn't get home, home came for them.
Filming Locations: Plage de Malo-les-Bains, Dunkerque, Nord, France
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
In creating of this film, director Christopher Nolan focused on the "real" of every aspect: putting an IMAX camera on the cockpit and wing of an actual Spitfire plane, floating cameramen around in the water with actors. See more »
Quotes:
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User Review
Author:
Rating: 10/10
For the majority of his career Christopher Nolan has thrived in
surrealism, whether it be focusing on caped crusaders or unchartered
space missions. So it's intriguing to see him return to a narrative
steeped in realism, and grounded by its commitment to real life
occurrences. The results are staggeringly impressive too, while the
talented filmmaker maintains his creative sensibilities, crafting a war
movie that feels distinctively his.When thinking about war films, it's
very hard not to go straight to the classics such as Apocalypse Now,
Platoon or Saving Private Ryan.You have to make something very special
to be mentioned in the same sentence as films like those.
"Dunkirk" tells the story of a group of allied soldiers from Belgium,
France, and the British Empire. When they find themselves surrounded by
the Germany army on the beaches of Dunkirk, the film follows the story
of the evacuation of 400,000 during the early stages of World War
II.boasting an incredible cast, Christopher Nolan allows his players to
internalize the fear and emotion, and allow them to express it in the
most aromatic and penetrating demeanor's. As Tommy, Fionn Whitehead
makes an astounding mark in his feature film debut. With no true lead
in the movie, his point of view is often a crutch for the audience to
rest upon, as his internalization of the character is one of the film's
most pivotal high points.It is gripping from its very opening moments,
in which we see soldiers getting picked off by invisible snipers in the
middle of the titular town as propaganda flyers shower from overhead,
announcing to the British, French, Canadian, Belgian and Dutch troops
that they are hopelessly penned in by the Germans.
The evacuation took days, and combined large ships taking people off
the Mole with small requisitioned commercial vessels collecting
soldiers from the shallows. All the time, the troops subject to aerial
assault on the beach and in the water, and the risk of being torpedoes
once aboard. The scale of the battle was thus immense - with the RAF
flying 3,500 sorties and engaging the Luftwaffe in dogfights away from
the beach (hence many soldiers wondering where they were) - 36 Royal
Navy destroyers ferrying men home as well as the Small Ships flotilla -
and c340,000 soldiers ultimately evacuated. It was both a great
military failure and a success - because as humiliating as the lost
Battle of France was, it enabled Britain to survive to fight on with
its men and materiel largely intact.
We are in the early months of World War Two. Ignoring captured
intelligence to German plans, French, Canadian and British and other
allied troops have been lured into Belgium by a German feint and have
now been encircled and driven back to the French coast. Roughly 340,000
men - the principal strength of the British army - crowded the beach at
Dunkirk - a port protected by a mole, or sea wall, from which they
could board the large vessels sent to ferry them back across the
English channel. In doing so, they were hugely aided by the French
forces tangling up the German troops sent to cut them off at the Siege
of Lille. They were also hugely aided by Hitler's inexplicable decision
to order the Luftwaffe not to pursue the troops.
Christopher Nolan makes the decision to avoid all of this explanation,
and to give us a Dunkirk that focuses on the personal experiences of
the war by land, sea and air. These theaters are inter-cut but take
place along different time-scales. The land evacuation takes place over
the week, although frankly days merge into each other and I couldn't
keep track. The sea rescue takes place over a day and the RAF dogfight
takes place over an hour, roughly corresponding to a Spitfire's fuel
limit.
The sea battle is also done very well from a technical perspective. We
get a sense of the claustrophobia of being aboard ship, the shell-shock
and the terror of a watery death, especially when combined with lit
gasoline. I thought the acting was by far the best in this segment. I
very much liked Mark Rylance's quiet earnestness as a civilian sailor
sailing to Dunkirk with his son - the quiet communication between the
two of them with glances - the profound sympathy toward Cillian
Murphy's traumatised rescued RAF pilot. And the scene of soldiers
drowning under a fiery sea is one of the most memorable and rightly
horrific in the film
Dunkirk is edge of your seat filmmaking that's fully realized in IMAX.
Can honestly say I've never seen anything like it. See this in IMAX! A
lot of people were wondering about Harry_styles & unknown cast. They're
all great but Dunkirk is not about any one solider. Also 'Dunkirk' is
another brilliant collaboration between Nolan & HansZimmer. The way he
mixes in a ticking clock with score is nail biting. Truly thrilling
from first to last second. A heartbreaking, heart-pounding, nail-biting
offering. Nolan fans, rejoice. DUNKIRK relies on v little dialogue.We
all know what happened on that beach, but Nolan's take is worth
visiting. Yes, DUNKIRK relies heavily on sound of an increasingly fast
ticking clock to build suspense. It may be a cheap trick, but it's
effective .Oscar pedigree is too much to ignore. Director Christopher
Nolan's World War II epic Dunkirk features Academy Award winner Mark
Rylance as an ordinary man showing uncommon courage under fire, and
Oscar nominees Tom Hardy and Kenneth Branagh (as, respectively, a
fighter pilot and a Naval commander). The score is by Hans Zimmer, a
10- time Oscar nominee with one win. Then there's the thrice
Oscar-nominated Nolan himself. Overall it's a great adventure just go
for it.
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