Tropic Sprockets / Dunkirk

By Ian Brockway

In “Dunkirk,” director Christopher Nolan  (The Dark Knight) gives military combat an immediate and supernatural importance. Violence comes from everywhere: the air, the land and the sea. No one is safe.  This is Dunkirk, France in 1940. The Nazis have isolated the British and French forces in the seaport and supplies are limited. The British it is said, are hedging their bets, preferring to save their energy for other confrontations. As a result, the Allies are stranded with the Germans free to shoot and dispatch them with ease like “fish in a barrel”.

The plot is constructed in an episodic, non-linear fashion which gives the narrative a daring existential and apprehensive tone. One is never quite sure what the eye will see. 

Alex (Harry Styles) is forced to jump from vessel to vessel, facing fire on every side. He finally settles on a private charter boat engaged in an eerie life and death struggle on board due to a soldier suffering from PTSD. The segment as it unfolds is reminiscent of a Roman Polanski thriller. In the air, Farrier, a fighter pilot (Tom Hardy), is forced to balance fuel and weaponry against a German Bf 109E. This sequence alone showing both the risk and the patience involved in a dogfight is worthy of any George Lucas epic.

Meanwhile, trapped on a destroyer, the soldiers turn on one another because of claustrophobia and panic. The soldiers single out the Frenchman (Aneurin Barnard) thinking him a spy. The terrific Mark Rylance portrays Mr. Dawson, a boater who is driven to rescue others missing or under duress.

During these three tense chapters, the audience becomes an anxious participant, helplessly aware of the strangeness of war. Time and time again, events tumble together with painful slowness in crystal clarity as if seen through a fire-glazed nightmare or an amoral vision.

Farrier strives to be a hero but he is constantly plagued by the shortage of time, fickle equipment and gunfire.

Dark forces periodically gain an upper hand.

“Dunkirk” is a stunning portrait of combat on three levels and is greatly served by its unconventional rhythm. It has a vivid yet claustrophobic flavor that one does not often see and it educates throughout as well as entertains.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]