DUNKIRK

Originally published on The Daily Ditty September 8, 2017

This is a very big deal. I have been waiting 2 ½ years for this film. Ever since it was announced that Christopher Nolan would be doing a ‘war film’ I’ve been glued to my google alerts for any information. Soon we got a title, then the casting rumours began. Finally it was announced that Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, and Kenneth Branagh were all attached to the film. The who’s who of British cinema, I was so so excited. Then silence. I heard nothing until about 18 months ago or so, the days escaped me. The 30 second teaser was out, just a ticking sound and beach scene, if I remember correctly. Excitement is too simple a term to express what I was feeling at that moment. I have a huge fascination with WWII and the 1930s-1940s. Fashion. Art. Music. There is nothing more home-y than a 1940 jazz recording. And now my favourite director was making a film, a WWII film, with Tom Hardy, well I was just a mess.

When there’s a film with this much anticipation you expect there to be early ticket sales, multiple trailers, lots of press leading up to the release (July 21 2017). There was nothing promotional until July 7th and tickets were on sale July 11th. Now the internet is flooded with cryptic press interviews, because honestly you can’t really say much without spoiling the experience of the film. And Dunkirk is definitely an experience. Finally July 21 was here! I marched down to the IMAX theatre to purchase my ticket… unable to complete the transaction…. WHAT! What a NO! I set a weekly spending limit on my card and I had used it all up. I'm so mad at myself! I had to wait a little longer, what’s a couple weeks after 2 ½ years.

For nearly a month I avoided YouTube, Instagram, even radio shows because now that it was released spoilers are fair game and they started releasing promotional clips and vignettes. I am not a person who worries about spoilers but for this film I knew it was to be experienced not just watched, so I wanted to go in blind (as blind as you can be when the film is about verified historical events).

WARNING: The following may contain spoilers, read at your own risk. (You can just skip to the last paragraph for my final thoughts; those are spoiler free).

THE MUSIC:

Leading up to the film’s release many articles came out talking about Zimmer’s score. What will he do next? What new sounds will he come up with? How will he change film scoring forever? Many with the headline “Why do you feel uneasy watching Dunkirk ''. Writers began to throw around Shepard Tone. In simple terms a Shepard Tone is the auditory equivalent of a fractal. The thing is Hans, from what I could hear, never actually used a true Shepard Tone. He alluded to it, used it as inspiration for the bulk of the feel of the score’s esthetics other than that it’s not there. He’s actually used this technique in the past in The Dark Knight score (also in The Prestige). The Joker theme, made famous by the (one of the first) Hans Zimmer gimmicks, the razor blade on the cello string, is a better representation of what the Shepard tone can do. The gimmick this time around for Zimmer was the use of Nolan’s pocket watch, which was synthesised and then used as the very annoying but heart pumping tick throughout the film and marketing campaign. Highly recognisable, and highly effective in the stress inducing department, but also been done before in The Dark Knight.

When breaking down the score into the nitty-gritty, you find a lot of recycled ideas and material. I feel like the Dunkirk score is all the rejected ideas and mixes from previous Nolan/Syncopy projects. There’s a bit of Inception, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Interstellar, even Man of Steel had a cameo. I would say that Zimmer is running out of ideas, but I think that his status as a composer might be fading into a more Producer role with contemporaries like Junkie XL and Tiesto.

There really isn’t much substance to the music, nothing notably ‘film score’ like. It’s mostly there just for atmosphere and soundscape. You’ve got the ticking pocket watch (gimmick du jour), a Rogue One reminiscent synth alarm (06:00 Supermarine), and a synthesised helicopter sound, though not accurate to the period, does add an element of militarization to the score. In true Hans fashion, the score is an over saturation of long notes, synths, ostinatos, and extended string techniques. Compared to his last Nolan film Interstellar, this score is as bleak melodically as the presumed fate of the soldiers. Maybe that was the point…

Most of the time I can listen to a cue again and replay the scene in my head, or feel the emotion it is meant to capture. You can’t really do that with Dunkirk. I don’t feel nearly as stressed, scared, paranoid, helpless listening to the music as I did watching the film. I’d have to say Supermarine is the original cue with the most melodic/harmonic use (in the traditional sense), which made it a smart choice as a would be single for the soundtrack. I say “original” when talking about Supermarine because the most melodic and harmonic is Variation 15 (Dunkirk) is actually a stretched out re-orchestrated synth iteration of Elgar’s Enigma Variation (Nimrod). Funny enough, this cue makes the film in my opinion. One of the most notable British composers, one of the most British pieces of music, scoring an incredible moment of humanity in British History. Benjamin Wallfisch’s arrangement perfectly fits its scene. The civilians have arrived, the bingo fuel pilot is gliding his way down to the beach knowing he will probably not make it home, the soldiers finally have hope of going home. What was a mission to save 30,000 men became a miracle of over 300,000 men. You can feel the breathlessness, relief, English pride, Allied pride, sacrifice of the soldiers and the civilians that saved them, but also the sorrow and grief for the ones who did not make it. It is the most bittersweet exhale I have ever experienced in watching a film.

THE FILM:

The film is everything you would expect from a Christopher Nolan film and more. Great actors, amazing sets, top notch cinematography. It is the perfect film. Just like Inception (rotating hallway) and Interstellar (sound science and an actual moving pod set), Dunkirk’s actors were based in reality leaving them more so reacting than acting, as cliché as it is. They rebuilt the Mole, refurbished WWII boats and planes, the entire thing was shot on location in Dunkirk, what I would do to have been just a whatever on that set. Dream come true. They had the biggest marine unit of any film, with something like 60 vessels. They had thousands of extras all dressed in WWII wool uniforms, standing on the cold gloomy beach or just wading the Channel, even the flybys are actual planes flying by. Just incredible! Another record the film broke is that the majority of the film was shot on 70mm film, which is unheard of because those types of cameras are very loud, which can ruin audio. The trade off is worth it though. What I liked about it, other than the resolution, was that some the scenes (mostly on the sea) were shot in a way that made them look like old news reels. The best use of this is towards the end when all the time lines sync up.

Dunkirk doesn’t follow your typical movie timeline. It follows three different perspectives in three different timelines: The Mole (one week); The Sea (one day); The Air (one hour). Though some may find it confusing, I think it was the only way to tell the story. The best part of it, especially if you like easter eggs, if that from the start of the film Nolan peppers each time line with clues that connect the time lines together. For example the the two pilots in the air, everything for them is taking place in one hour, you find out at the end that those scenes are part of the film overall climax. You see the Mole soldiers doomed hiding vessel sinking and them bailing, and when Collins crash lands in the sea, on the way down you see the father/son boat near by, which is then repeated from the perspective of the sea and they save Collins.

One thing I was not expecting was how loud the film would be. Usually a loud mix like that would be annoying, speakers could blow, you can’t hear yourself think and enjoy the film, but for Dunkirk that is exactly what it needed. It was part of the immersive storytelling. Part of the experience. The planes are loud, the explosions are loud, gunfire, mortars, shells, all of it, to the point that when the two moments of complete silence in the film happen you have a ringing in your ears, slightly muffled feeling. Probably similar to what your hearing would be like if you were really there.

Finally we’ve come to casting. Nolan made the smart choice of casting virtual nobodies (noobs) for the young men in the film. Fionn Whitehead leads the Mole men, with an incredible honest performance. Barry Keoghan, though not on screen for long, depicts the quiet but prideful patriotism that lead so many civilians to help with the evacuation. And now for the boyband sized elephant in the room Harry Styles. Ya, his performance was good, honestly the bar was really low considering his provenance, but was so Oscar worthy like everyone was saying. No. It wasn’t. It also, though flattering, didn’t help that Nolan likened Styles to Heath Ledger in his joker performance (which won him an Oscar). I think it was irresponsible (high marketing tactic) for Nolan to say those praises, especially considering Alex is a supporting role. I feel like though it was an ensemble cast Fionn really held the story together and stole the show.

With all that being said I hope Dunkirk finds it’s way on the Academy Awards ballots for as many categories as possible, though in the acting category, considering there are usually only 5 nominees, we might see the supporting actor category of only Dunkirk men. We shall see, it was a summer release so it may be long forgotten at AMPAS by nomination day.

Spoiler Free:

Dunkirk: The film I was anticipating more than any Marvel or DC concoction. Don’t let the misnomer “War film” dissuade you from experiencing such an amazing film. A lean script, all-star cast (some new comers), amazing sets with both practical and special effects, and shot beautifully, it is the “Epic suspense thriller” I could only dream of. If you are in Toronto you can see it for free at the Omnisphere (Ontario Place) as part of the 50th IMAX anniversary event at TIFF, or check your local listings (you want to see it in IMAX 70mm).

Though the Dunkirk score won’t be on my rotation, the film would not have had the impact it did without it. Either that’s their genius of both or their impotence.