About Time And Dunkirk

Post 206:

            I finally got off my butt and saw Dunkirk this last weekend. Temporally, the story was told in a fairly unique way. It was almost like watching a minute hand, an hour hand, and a second hand all at the same time, waiting for them to come back around and land on the hour.

            Actually, that’s a pretty frigging good description. And pretty hard to do. I thought the sound production was glorious. Every explosion and bullet sent a shockwave into my guts.

            The bravery. The fear. I can’t recall a film that captured so many points of view and still stayed gripping. It’s hard to shift from place to place and not get lost.

            That said, the film begs to be seen two or three more times. There were moments when the sequencing got a tiny bit confusing, but I think that was more a product of my laziness as a viewer. This is not a casual movie-going experience. Go in with your game face on.

            Speaking of faces—mine was a snotty mess by the end. The bravery of an entire army, the bravery of a slew of civilians, and the bravery of one man in a Spitfire all click at the same time. Add the typical Christopher Nolan score, and it’s time for some serious emotions.

            It wasn’t an overly maudlin film, though. It just told the story as well as it could. Loved it. It will be in my Cloud forever.

            Wow. That last statement almost ruined everything.

            Go see Dunkirk. Go see it for the story of brave men with their backs to the sea, able to see home but not able to get there.

            Go see it for the fact that someone still cares enough to tell a story that takes chances and doesn’t rely on anything but real boats and airplanes and some seriously good editing and an able script. That’s what it takes, and why it’s such a rarified thing.

            God bless. See you after.