Dunkirk - The Art Of Fear
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
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As a military man myself, I loved what Nolan did with this. Everyone thinks they’ll join in the military and turn into Rambo when the time comes where bullets fly around. But the reality is what Nolan showed, when that time comes, there is about a minute or so of craziness and mayhem where you try your best not to die, where every little movement can get you killed and then you’re left to deal with the consequences of that minute.
99% boredom, 1% sheer terror
Arthfael Online A war? Yes. This film? No.
I was terrified up to the end. Music composed by Zimmer complemented it.
@@lanceortega1 I was talking about war, I loved the film. First time a movie about war made me feel actual dread, and the sound effects actually sounded real. Never before has a film made me jump from gunfire
Alexander Angelus While I completely agree with this I believe that a movie like Jarhead shows this even better. He stationed in the middle east for so long and he only ends up in one real fight and it’s exactly like what you said. Both movies display it very well however
Exactly . War isnt glamorous. There are no heroes
The lack of dialogue throughout this movie was amazing. Yes there was dialogue but very little.
Great visual storytelling
It's nice to watch a movie where Exposition is shown, not spat out at you.
Very sad. No;an is a great storyteller and this is an incredible story.
I know its tired to say, but that's why 2001 a Space Odyssey will always be one of my favorite movies. It's the first one where I realized just how powerful imagery and composition can communicate even without any language. Yes, some of it can be draining and somewhat limited in its symbolism (not a movie a I can easily rewatch without a few months/year gap) but certain scenes and moments spark some intangible sense that I can try to verbalize but instead mostly feel.
Indeed, every other aspect spoke volumes, little speech needed
The events were tangible
I think you misunderstand war. Nolan portrays this excellently, not many soldiers actually do get to see the enemy and I feel this was captured spectacularly in Dunkirk.
@ well both the holocaust and the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings were mass slaughters of innocent people and the atom bomb caused lasting radiation damage that cause thousands of miscarriages that is, atleast partially, still affecting the regions today
completely agree - and the ignorance of the bigger picture for the audience allows you to see any situation in the same way the characters do... without any hindsight or knowledge influencing your view of the decisions the characters make. It also has a great fighter dogfight scene!
@ not only this, the Allies just didn’t bomb axis cities for the hell of it, they only bombed important cities that were central to the axis war effort. If the US was forced to invade Japan then those cities would’ve been important to the Japanese war method. If the US was going for civilian casualties or indiscriminate bombings they would’ve nuked Tokyo.
@@iterationfackshet1990
Tokyo had more civilian deaths than even Nagasaki, because Tokyo was bombed and bombed and bombed, just from regular bombings the US did
not only this, the Axis just didn’t bomb allied cities for the hell of it, they only bombed important cities that were central to the allied war effort
this sentance is also true, and dumb to say, all cities are important to a countries war effort, if you bomb a city, you bomb civilians, which is a war crime
I understand that what the allies did might have been necesarry, but when it comes to lesser evils, its still evil
and we don't need to downplay those actions
O and most historians agree that Japan didn't capitulate because of the nuclear bombs but because the Soviet Union entered the war and began to fight the Japanese. So those two nuclear bombings might have been unnecesarry after all
I think you misunderstood the video. He never said Nolan didn't portray war, he said Nolan did not portray a war MOVIE. We're talking about MOVIES here
I went into the theater expecting the typical war film, like Privat Ryan.
Instead, I was indeed treated to a very alien experience, completely different from what I expected.
It is a jewel of a film. _You can't hate it for not being what you want. You need to love it for what it is._ And it's gorgeously performed.
It is a JEWel of an experience.
I'm sorry.
Magic_Zach same. I thought it was about violence as the same. Nope, it was about the soldiers and everyone else’s experience in the movie and their perspective. Instead of some boring plot involving one camera focusing only on one character or the same characters.
Saving Private Ryan is a great war film imo, the only problem is it inspired shitty ones
@Stratowind Dunkirk is great
@@TheWhoamaters yea Saving Pvt. Ryan is a great movie, definitely not you're "typical war movie". It literally made D-Day veterans cry and leave the theater when it came out. That opening beach scene was the most intense thing I've ever experienced in a movie.
I disagree with the reviewer when he says that this isn't a war film. It is a war film, and it is one of the best at depicting the reality of war. It isn't glamorous, and it isn't action packed. There is a lot of silence and waiting in horror.
It's about the BEF evacuating the continent and abandoning their French allies. The actual war film thingy about Dunquerqe would involve the French 1st army, who covered the british withdrawal. It actually offers stories of bravery much more compelling than lounging about the beach, applying generous amounts of Jimmy Savile salve, with strains of Monty Python yelling "RUN AWAY" coming from Old Blighty.
This is the best war movie thb
its also just a significant part of the war that was not just a typical battle. this wasnt about destroying the enemy, this was launching a large scale evacuation to escape certain death.
I think he meant "it's not a typical war film"
what a word means is what people think it means. When you say "a war film", you think about war films you have seen for which there were a few examples in this video. As the video says, Dunkirk is not that kind of a film, therefore it is not a war film. You are right that Dunkirk is a film that depicts war far more accurately than others but the term is already associated with classic war films so it is a bit late now to say that Dunkirk is the real war film.
My biggest regret is not watching this in imax
I feel the opposite, not being able to see it in IMAX again hurts me :(
ShotaxNinja Same...
It was one of the most "worth it" experiences of my life
ShotaxNinja i watched it in the fanciest theatre ive ever been in. Im glad this was the movie i saw.
Yeah I watched it on the Imax in London which is the largest screen in Europe and it was craaaazy.
How can you say Dunkirk doesn't say anything about war and therefore doesn't qualify as a war film, and then instantly discuss that it's about fear of an unknown enemy and the desire to survive because that's how the men on that beach felt? That IS *what Dunkirk says about war* - something that's been missing from lots of war movies that focus on individuals, instead of acknowledging that most individuals do experience war as like, a force they're in the grips of just trying to stay alive, without any time or power to philosophise about morality or the enemy. It's exactly that survival angle of Dunkirk that makes it a great war film, imo!
I respectfully disagree for the most part, Dunkirk is not a war film, war films do have themes mostly based on the characters, the theme of survival however is shown through the setting, less so of the characters. The thing that makes this not a war film is that the theme of survival can be applied to any dire situation such as the one presented, its about time and how it can make all the difference. What he is trying to say is that Dunkirk is in no way a traditional war film but rather a film about survival with the setting of war.
Yes Dunkirk is a war film, it describes a particular point in a war, World war 2, but the actual meaning behind the scene is not about war. For example the other films that he brought up like saving private Ryan or Hacksaw ridge attempt to describe war itself, but the fact that a war is going on in Dunkirk is only a base to try and explain the true meaning. Fear.
@@jeremytenner6441 if the meaning behind the scenes isn't about war then how is it a war film?
@@sidedace1512 I humbly disagree. Isn't the fear of death and wishes for survival a common thing in war? Survival can be applied on many different things but it is also deeply applied in war. For the most part, the people in war want to survive and the fear of an unknown death is rampant. Survival is everywhere in a war but most movies don't focus on it. Just like how Nolan didn't make a character centric film, focusing solely on the survival and fear aspects of war is one more of the unorthodox things he did in this movie.
@@jeremytenner6441 Would you say The Dark Knight is a superheroe movie? is the same with Dunkirk, even if its in the same place as World War 2 doesnt mean its a war film. He explains it very good in the video.
**clock ticking intensifies**
yes
Right 💓🔥
ok how tf you got two top comments in one video? explain pls
I had to write a 2 page essay of the ticking in this film.
@@pingunootson2291 Damn, hardcore
Rewatching this five years later and hearing the line "if nolan were making a movie about the holocaust or the use of atomic weapons in Japan" feels oddly prophetic
Literally came directly to comment section when I heard that and the money way he described how a movie about said events would be filmed it definitely fits Oppenheimer
@@JOHANJVATO SAME!
*Many people thought of this film as boring*
because there were no guns blazing everywhere and bombs exploding on the screen.
What a sad perspective.
Or because it was
boring but good
I know its a year later but
Nobody thinks that
I think people thought the movie was boring not because of the lack of action but because we didn't know much of characters. We don't know who they are and therefore we don't feel any empathy for any of the characters. We can not connect with them as we don't know the characters ideals and Hope's.
@@dumbkiddo9265 please dont be so ignorant. The focus of the film is not character development but the event that took place. The truth is many failed to understand the film which led to undeserved criticism
its because the movie has so few action it teaches us about what war is, because most of the time war is not action, its just waiting in fear, fear of the unknown, and the only thing that matters is to survive, not to be a hero, and that is what the movie wants us to know
Idk why people say that this movie didn't have any characterization, cause they were defined more by their actions rather than words imo. For example, Tom Hardy's character turning the plane around to take down the bomber despite the low fuel tells you all you need to know about him as a character.
this movie sure has characterization but not a real main character in the classic way. The 'protagonist' we see is reacting and not acting. so that's why people say there is lack of character
The movie has characterization but not in a traditional way.
We don't follow a specific number of characters and the movie doesn't really try to make us connect with them. They're just there for the sake of giving us a different picture of this massive story.
I honestly don't remember the name of any character and I left the movie enjoying it. But that's kinda the thing, not knowing the characters in this movie isn't really a bad thing, because you were not meant to know them but to grasp the bigger picture of the event itself.
What does it say? He shot the plane because it would have likely bombed his runway killing him?
This movie did a good job identifying its characters but it did not develop them as most movies do. Most movies will show who a character is at the start of the film but by the end the character has changed, this is not the case with Dunkirk
Blender Geek and thats,not necessarily a bad thing. That was the point. It didnt develop them because they were already in the midst of their development.
People didn't like Dunkirk because they came in with expectations for what a war movie is supposed to be like and what a Nolan movie is supposed to be like. No one went in expecting such a strange and innovative execution; no one expected it to fly in the face of traditional Hollywood story telling. And I totally get why people hated it. It's a very strange movie.
dunnowy123 they're also used to everything being progressive in time, but Nolan used land for a week, sea for a day, and air for an hour, and then mixed them up, progression in time was not linear, but instead went forward and back in time, foreshadowing elements, and leaving plot and questions unanswered until the other times caught up to that event. It made it very confusing for many that his focus was on time and not a sequence like most
I hope it wins the Oscar for editing.
The confusion of seeing the aerial footage of Rylance’s civilian ship actually added to the tension. I couldn’t really place where they were exactly in terms of time, it was very engaging to follow along.
Actually I disagree I actually think I would have liked it better if I had known what to expect. When I was watching it in theaters I wasn’t invested in how rip roaringly realistic it was, I was to busy asking questions like why are these characters so underdeveloped? And now I can’t really enjoy it as much any more because I already experienced it.
Too bad for you.
That’s a dumb objection to have, in my opinion.
i didn't like it because it absolutely terrified me but from a film making perspective i think its an absolute masterpiece
Dunkirk does actually talk about warfare through symbolism. It talks about the anonymity of war through its entire movie. We don't know anything about the characters more than the other characters in the movie know themselves. We look at statistics of WW2 and all we see are numbers of the masses, and nothing down to the individual level. Dunkirk captures the anonymous nature of war extremely well. While I really do agree with your stance, this part cannot be taken out of the brilliance of the movie.
Dunkirk shows that war is chaos. Dunkirk shows that war is fighting an inanimate fear. Dunkirk shows that in war, morality doesnt matter, that it is fear that governs, the wish to survive.
승현아 영어 잘하네
This movie made me even more terrified of the ocean...
Well, at least it isn't crawling with U-Boats anymore. It's now crawling with ballistic nuclear submarines
Same😅😅
The ocean, a desert way deadlier then the desert itself
then I think you would enjoy watching Das Boot, and enjoy playing Subanutica
Markiplier Intensifies
Great video but I, personally, disagree with your assessment that Dunkirk is not a war movie because it doesn't focus on an aspect of war. Terror is a very real and sometimes overlooked aspect of every war. In fact the best description I have ever heard of war was: it is vast stretches of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.
Yeah my grandfather told me that. He was in WW2 "You're either bored to death, or scared to death" I thought Dunkirk did it's job very well, the fear from being sitting ducks would have been unreal.
Nad Darvis ... As a veteran, I can attest that sometimes the waiting can be as nerve-wracking as the action. You know an assault is happening that your platoon will be participating in, but it's not yet known exactly when. Then there's movement to the theater, then waiting, then movement to the FOB, then waiting, and so on. You can only tell so many jokes, do so much training, or clean so many weapons to distract yourself from the knowledge that mortal combat is in your close future and that there's precious little chance of you avoiding it. You can't run away or fly home; you're a soldier and there on a mission, thousands of miles from friendly shores. The mental game of before, during, and after combat can be substantially taxing to say the least.
I totally agree, most war movies show you the terror and the fear, usually on the characters faces.
But Dunkirk makes you FEEL the terror, right to your core. And as someone of “would have been sent to die on some foreign patch of land in the 1940s age” I found that of all the war movies I’ve seen, this was the one that really made me go “holy shit... that could have been me frantically hopelessly drowning in that ship, not knowing which way is up, being kicked and scratched by my friends desperately trying to survive themselves”
Nad Darvis I respectfully disagree with your counter argument. Dunkirk does not focus on the aspect of war that you define as “vast stretches of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror” but rather it uses this to build tension and bring around the theme or survival and how it relates to time rather than your analysis of a theme of “terror”, thus making it not a “war film” in the traditional sense.
@The Martian Engineer I respectfully disagree with your counter argument to the counter argument of the argument. Dunkirk is a war film.
I saw this movie stoned as hell in the theater, and it was a more thrilling experience than staring death in the eyes
"than staring death in the eyes"
There is no death and it doesn't have eyes!
Sam Samoa it’s a figure of speech dammit
@@justinwong833
"dammit"
Dammit indeed!
Is Tom Hardy any good in the film? He's good in most films, except in that CIA crap where he pretends he is in love with Reese Witherspoon - what was he thinking? (Oh well, mortgage to pay I guess!)
I've seen dozens of war movies but Dunkirk is undoubtely the most refreshing one
The general sound design in this movie was nothing short of incredible. I saw it in theater and it was an amazing experience
Dunkirk is intense. It would be my best picture winner
Loganski Jones Same. Whether or not it it had the character interaction or development of other war films it made me feel something Ive never expirienced with a movie before.
i want it to be but it probably wont be. shape of water or lady bird will win :(. the academy tend to disagree with me XD
It should win Best Picture and Best Director.
Call Me By Your Name would like to have a word. I’d definitely have Nolan as Best Director though
Nolan deserves it
This movie comments on the sacrifice people are willing to make for their fellow man. Throughout the movie, Nolan follows a group of people trying to escape death. However it’s Tom Hardy, the pilot, that no one knows is there, who sacrifices everything he’s got an order to help as many people as possible, knowing very well that he would likely die doing so. It shows how war is unfair and how the people who deserve to live, Good people willing to sacrifice themselves, don’t always have a happy ending. And it also shows how cowards are sometimes spared in spite of everything. This movie shows how objective where is by not taking sides on who deserves to live or who deserves to be punished but rather shows people that war doesn’t take sides.
That’s an interesting perspective!
I know the ‘cowards’ are spared by luck several times but I found that the movie also highlighted the randomness of war. The way they jumped the queue in order to be safe but ironically probably should have died in one of the sinkings sort of shows that I’m war times “safe” is relative.
It even makes me realise that at some time during the war there was probably a soldier somewhere who was rotated home for one reason or another, having survived for a long time on the front, only to have been killed by a bomb in an air raid while they were supposedly “safe at home.”
When the world is at war, there’s no real escape from the threat of death
except that Tom Hardy's character does not die - he surrenders and presumably spends the rest of the war in a prisoner of war camp at a point when pilots life span is talked of in terms of months if not weeks... you can see what the Hardy character does is see the apparent futility of the coming battle and so deliberately runs low on petrol to certainly save tommies on the beach but also to then be able to legitimately land the plane, torch it and be captured. Would be nice to have a little thing in the credits where we see how long the characters we followed and survived Dunkirk lasted afterwards... my bet is the Hardy character escaped the POW camp and then shacked up with a senorita in Spain for the rest of the war!
Did no one else notice the building up tension soundtrack continueing on for the ENTIRE film
I did, and I absolutely loved it
Yeah it was pretty fuckin awesome. Esp the oil scene and when the stukas dive bomb
It was impossible to miss. I've said it before-Dunkirk is a film that's essentially one scene. There's never a break of any kind.
Interestingly almost all Nolan's movies have this similarity which made his films so entertaining to watch.
It doesn't have any commentary on the nature of war. The visuals show the nature of war.
Yeah that's why I like it
I was never a fan of war movies but this one is really good
The nature of war....what about the aspect of not knowing when you're going to die? I thought this move portrayed that brilliantly.
Shane Macas the tension , and terror in the soldiers faces , their lack of words , all of it ponders the question repeatedly , what’s going to happen next ? Am I going to die?
I’ve heard the argument that Dunkirk isn’t a war movie, mainly because Nolan himself said so, but by your definition I politely disagree. Dunkirk shows a commentary on the horrors of war, but does it in a very unique way. Instead of showing the horror through bloody, gruesome scenes like Hacksaw Ridge and/or acts of unsettling inhumanity like Apocalypse Now, Dunkirk capitalizes on the overt fear that war causes. Saving Private Ryan tries to do this by having a big long break between two of the best and most disturbing scenes in all of film, leaving the viewer tense throughout, but Dunkirk alleviates the pain with an action scene, only to rinse and repeat constantly. This keeps the viewer constantly on the edge, hoping for some kind of relief to an unrelenting force, and that plays a large part into not only why the film works, but also why it is so unique.
I thought fear was the point of the video. I personally found the movie pretty enjoyable and, like you said, intense. I still think the film would have been more effective with an R rating but that does not take away from it at all.
I think an R-rating really isn't necessary. Maybe you could show bloody people, but it would be barely used. There would be the opening scene, Georgie's head splitting open, the oil slick on fire scene, and that's about it. It may be a bit more authentic, but as you said it doesn't take away from the fear the film was trying to convey, and therefore it's perfectly effective as is.
Gemnist there is also the commentary of kids being sent into real life wars and suicide missions they don't even understand. The cast in Dunkirk are actual teens and young men wearing extra large uniforms - as if to say that the young do not fit in wars...
Michael Otis That's an interesting thought. In terms of that, I highly recommend Beasts of No Nation - easily one of the best war movies of the 2010s, and very commentating on child soldiers.
Gemnist already saw Beasts of No Nation...it was in my top 3 of 2015!! Some of the best child acting I've ever seen on film!!! And Idris Elba killed it 👍
I personally really loved this film!
(Also, great video! I really love all the points you made!)
Thanks :)
Well, for me personally, I loved this film.
me personally, i loved this film also
I thought this was one of the best movies I've ever seen. Seeing it in 70MM IMAX really gave me a completely different viewing experience than what I was used to seeing from other IMAX films.
Michael Adams Oh my goodness! That sounds AMAAZING!!!!
I really liked this movie because I like stories that leave the interpretation up to the viewer or reader. And with the minimal dialogue and no real character building (backstory or personal info. Their actions tell us about their integrity and character but not who they are as a person), I really felt like it was real and happening right then, because that’s how life is. It’s not some grandiose thing; you meet people and crap happens and you don’t know why. And it made the dialogue that was there stand out a lot more. The one that comes to mind being the scene in the boat at the end. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of Mr. Styles’s acting. Very well done. Very stressful.
All in all, fascinating storytelling, but not a movie I’d buy.
For me a big part is when they find out there's a French soldier in the boat with them.
Juce It also makes it a bit more real, when you're sitting on a beach with someone you don't know and the threat of death is right around the corner, you can't really just make small talk. Or when you're taking a dump when a guy is like five feet away. What do you really say at that moment?
"I really liked this movie because I like stories that leave the interpretation up to the viewer or reader"- same with 2001 Space Odyssey (one of the greatest movies of all time)
Yeah, I watched it in the theatres and in the beginning scene when it’s a group of people in a line I was like oh so were are gonna follow these guys and then they kill all of them minus one and I was like woah okay than that’s new
The sound of the Stuka diving is just incredible
One of a few movies that make me shiver from fear. Sounds like banshees screaming
That is the sound of the Jericho trumpet. A device planted on the front of the aircraft that was designed you make that frightening wailing noise at diving speeds.
DJ Chazzy Chaz all they needed to do is put the fucking clock ticking sound every on e and a while on the front of the planes. In all seriousness though, I can only imagine the terror of hearing that noise the unbridled fear of, that is the enemy and they are here.
I love your take on the enemy! It's mind-boggling how enemy has no face, defined characteristics and is blurred therefore creating and unseen ominous presence. LOVE IT.
I think the best thing anyone said to prepare me for this film was to say that it's basically survival horror wearing the skin of a war movie. It nearly brought me to tears with the sheer level of tension.
In addition, I never had an issue with the characters. They're right for the way the story works.
No one seems to understand survival horror IS war.
I 100% agree with you when you said that fear depends on the unknown. My 2 biggest fears are the open ocean and being murdered for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The ocean because if I’m out there, 1001 things could go wrong and leave me stranded in open water with no way to get to land, no way to call for help, and no way of knowing what’s lurking just beneath the surface. The being murdered thing is because I’ve seen plenty of episodes of Law and Order where a gunman goes to an office or school or wherever to kill a particular person and kills everyone else there just so there are no witnesses. Both of those situations terrify me, and both are because there’s no way to prepare for them because there’s no way of knowing when or even if they’ll happen
It's called Thalassophobia, and I have it too, I feel exactly the same. But no one is able to understand my fear.
John Walker that is why i read the book too.
the opening scene was also scary.
Randy Me it was like the tension was building because of the music, papers falling and the fear of the emptiness that the soldiers would experience
Just wish it was rated R.
Why does it need to be rated R?
Hearing a bit of cursing wouldn’t add anything to the experience.
George No no one does, I mean for some added effect to the way violence was portrayed. It's not that I wanted it to be over the top, just a way to make everything seem more real.
Dragonspartax, I think showing the mole being strafed by 20mm canons and seeing defenceless British soldiers blown to bits would be distasteful.
0:33 "So, wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and smell the ashes."
3:51 One of the best scenes in the history of war films.
Expect my next essay on blade runner 2049 to come out in the next few days :)
I can’t wait!!
Your point in this video is correct, Dunkirk is not a character study of a person, but a pure form of film.
The Closer Look did you like sicario?
Yeah, its a gritty well done film :)
Good to have you back brother
Hope you’re doing well and your health is improving
I beg to differ! I think it is a war movie because it shows a big part of war that is true for many soldiers and civilians. Often all people wish for is just survival. I think seeing war that way is a quite honest portrayal. Often people don't quite buy into them being on higher moral ground and many soldiers lose that belief in battle. And then all that matters is survival.
Johanna H. Agreed!!! There's a running commentary on how youth are sent into real life wars they don't even understand... The characters like Tommy in this film are actual young men, their uniforms absurdly larger than their size as if to say that these kids don't fit in war...
Lol and people say Nolan isn't subtle
Totally agreed and the scene when Mr. Dawson is arguing with the Shivering Soldier and he says: "Men of my age dictate this war, why they should send our children to fight it?". It's a really small part but very reminiscent because it justify the tone of the film about the futility of war for many of the soldier who they were just 17-18 years old where the sense of patriotism it's not settled, only survival is right thing to do.
Perhaps... but for the most part, it's leaning more as a survival film with a WWII backdrop. Like what he stated in the video, the film lacks the commentary; no moments that highlight the conflict of the two nations, the war.
I felt more empathy with the characters in this film than most war films. You can never know, but I feel like most of us, in any given war, would prioritise surviving above most other things. I go round war cemeteries, and you see 21,19,18, 22 as ages of death... I'm 27 and nothing makes me feel older.
I respectfully disagree, the theme of Dunkirk is survival and how it relates to time rather than the actual setting and conflict itself, the setting is a catalyst for the driving of the themes
Dunkirk: Focuses on Dunkirk
Pearl Harbor: Focuses on love?
This is an absolutely spectacular movie. I dont think there was a single moment in this movie that I didn't feel tense until the end. It felt very satisfying after it ended as well.
You're right about the fear in this film
I can name 4 movies that made me cry.
This was one of them.
When the plane goes down but doesn't release its chute, the son wants to move on. The dad refuses, and when he snaps at the son you can hear the fear in his voice. Later on we learn that he lost his eldest son in the war, and you realize he couldn't bear the idea of losing another boy, even if it's one he doesn't know.
In the end, the soldiers are afraid the public is going to be mad at them. They're afraid of the publics reaction. When the crowd instead applauds and celebrates them, I couldn't hold it in.
Criminally underrated film.
This is why Nolan is my favourite director. He’s amazing!
You make a good point on Dunkirk being a survival. I can see why you would call it that.
Zia Rasekhi during the promotion leading up to the film, the cast members themselves said that Dunkirk was less a war film and more a survival story set during a war. I think it was such a fantastic and unique viewpoint to take, Nolan really created something unique and genuine with this film!
The Closer Look liked a Nolan movie?
What a shock!
He liked Dunkirk... What a.... Shell shock?
Nope nope bad pun I'll leave
Random Commenter Thank you, Sir. He took the hit for us.
BattleUp Saber do you have an example of him being critical of Nolan? I feel like I praise Nolan too much so I'd like to hear other opinions.
The Dark Knight Rises was pretty bad in relation to expectations and doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.
Even the best and most referenced scene with the airplane hijacking had several issues with logic.
The writing more than anything is to blame, but the third act can’t be pinned solely on the script.
Nolan is one of my favourite all time directors but he has two problems with his style. He has an obsession with constant ratio changes which is present in all his recent films and his dialogue is often wooden and lacking the flair of a great dialogue writer e.g. Tarantino.
Like I say he is an exceptional director but those two are his biggest weaknesses for me.
I literally felt fear watching the soundless clips lmao.
I went to see this film with my grandad who lived through ww2 and both of us thought it was a masterpiece and it’s the only time I’ve seen him cry
I really liked this movie when it came out because of the way it told the story
it helped me understand the event and the tension involved in the evacuation, the knowledge of the german forces slowly approaching but never knowing when they will be there is amazing.
"He's coming back 'round!"
Watching this in the cinema was superb.
In that first scene of the soldiers walking down the street the sound was so loud and true to life I thought someone had actually fired a gun in the back of the auditorium
Yeah I love this movie because of how it looks like it was live all those shots and sounds
RIP FRENCH GIBSON I WANTED HIM TO LIVE
I watched Dunkirk last night I don’t know why I felt so anxious this video helped me find out why thanks keep up the great work
This film wasn't on my radar at all. I saw the trailer and thought it looked good but I didn't see it until a couple weeks after its release after not seeing or reading any reviews. It ended up becoming one of my top 3 films of last year with Split and Logan
Damn you just reminded me of Split and how much I loved that movie.
Man Split was a good one.
Ghaffar_KH I even bought it on Blu-ray and forgot I did until this post. I only got early last month too.
It needed a great song from Harry Styles, perhaps a remix of "Living next door to Alice" by Smokie
Great video. It does make a commentary on war though. Its fear. The terror of war. Its not a higher philosophy but rather a deep primal message
Great commentary!
12:04 Also, it's "Killian" Murphy
He’s Scarecrow?! I knew I recognised him
The Wind that shakes the Barley, Inception, he's a truly great Irish actor.
That’s Sillyian, of course it’s not Killian!
No he's Tommy Fookin Shelby.
I know nothing about war and nothing about the technical and design aspects of movie making. what I know about movies is purely from watching. My wife and I watched this - and I still remember "waiting for it to begin" and then after about 20 minutes realized that it had begun and I was watching the actual movie. It was a unique and entirely memorable experience. truly remarkable viewing experience.
Thank you Nolan for making this film. I haven't watched any of your other films. But I watched this one. Massive respect for your work of love. Honouring those men through film.
I liked this movie but I didn't love it. Mostly because I couldn't understand it, and I didn't necessarily know why. Not the events, not what's happening cause I'm pretty familiar with Dunkirk and WW2 in general, but what the movie is really about.
It felt disjointed and something was missing. I was expecting a War movie but that wasn't really what I got. The focus on the event as a whole instead of characters also didn't help.
But by watching this video, I now understand why I didn't really understand it before. You put very well what I couldn't really say myself, and I appreciate this movie now much more because of that.
Thank you for making a good movie great for me, and also thank you in overall for making YT videos in general, cause I'm really glad I stumbled upon your channel.
You have a great thing going over here, and hopefully It'll become even better.
Yes exactly I totally agree with this, although one minor complaint that I think was just a product of trying to get this movie to a wider audience is that it's not rated R. The violence could have been a little bit more punchy and at times almost feels, I can't think of a better word, cartoony? It just doesn't fit. I'm not saying I want gore and limbs flying around I just expected more grit.
I felt pretty lost while watching it as well, but I thought that must be Nolan’s intention. He wanted me to feel lost and confused just as the characters in the movie did. That was just my experience and perception though.
Making a movie R doesn’t make it better. I liked how Dunkirk was PG-13, because it gave us a break from the horrific violence other war movies portray, but instead focused on what was actually happening. It didn’t need to be gory or gritty, because it was already as intense as it could get.
Bookhead714 I never said it was not intense I don't know why people don't understand what I am trying to say. I guess I should just stop replying at this point.
@@G-0 You're right, if there are zero realistic injuries, then the impact just isn't there (Saving SPR did that perfectly in my opinion).
I was expecting a 'tora, tora, tora' style movie focusing on different perspectives- but the perspectives we were shown just didn't do it for me; no scenes of British/French command centers, No planning, no ambushes or French defensives. I'm not saying that the film was completely rotten, as it looked amazing, but it didn't really succeed as a war film imo.
Dunkirk wouldn't fail as a book, youd have chapters for each characters just like Game of Thrones does
The reason I said that was because this film is visual storytelling and it wouldn't work in a more literary medium or at least it wouldn't work as well.
If it is adapted into a book, it would be like "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
or From the City, From the Plough by Alexander Baron.
I get so excited for every episode from this channel, and it never disappoints. Thank you.
Great to hear you like my stuff :)
This movie, may not make a direct commentary, or statement about war, but it truly does, capture the fear in it that most War Movies are lacking, or shorter, or live a few moments. This movie does a great job at extending the fear to the point of where it becomes exhaustive and we're just watching, forget about the people who actually lived it for days, weeks, or months at a time. And possibly a contributing factor in P.T.S.D. which all soldiers will carry with them in one way or another. This is why I think it is a War movie.
This is Nolan's best work till date. Literally everything is polished and perfected. Everything is wound tight and Nolan preserves the unique nature and approach of this film from start to finish. Also, this movie has high rewatch value. Infact, it gets better the more you watch it. Even Tarantino said that he found it much better on third viewing.
exactly
People who hate Dunkirk are just wrong. It’s okay to be wrong, but they’re wrong nonetheless.
If they hated the movie, that simply means they didn't enjoy it and we can't do anything about that. Now, if they say Dunkirk has no redeeming qualities, that's where they are wrong.
I dont care about your opinion. Dunkirk is overrated like some other Nolan films.
here we are again, the word "overrated".
To be honest I can understand where they are coming from. I mean a lot of people want a film with gripping characterisation and Dunkirk definitely lacked that. But again if you try to please everybody you please nobody.
Saying that your opinion is a fact is just wrong. It's okay to be wrong, but you are wrong nonetheless
Dunkirk was phenomenal. In-depth characterisation would have only slowed this movie down. The most harrowing parts for me were when the enemy aircraft and U-boats were coming after the allied ships. I don't think any other movie I've seen has done a better job of capturing the harrowing sense of being a prey animal being hunted by an apex predator. As it circles around you forget that it is a machine being piloted by a human and perceive it simply as an unknowable horror preparing to strike. Before Dunkirk I had never seen a war movie that felt like a horror movie.
My sister only watched this film because Harry Styles was in it😂 in the end she really liked the movie and we watched it three more times❤️
I was eating for someone to comment about Harry 😁
jus watched Dunkirk, was blown away by the absolute grounded nature of the film, no morality, no preaching, no subversion, just a accurate portrayal of men being surrounded who only want to survive, was amazed by the non linear nature of following 3 POV characters, truly captured the scope of what was happening, no need for a scene of exposition, we get to see what was happening, my heart goes to all the brave men who fort in WW2. Thank you for their sacrifice, may we continue to get good cinema that respects and honours our fallen hero's.
An aspiring writer? bro the last few minutes of this video gave me goosebumps from not only your writing but your DELIVERY. you could honestly be a good voice actor too, if the opportunity arises.
"all the diffrences on the world" and i hear G man in backof my head . _ .
Tomek Inn Me too. He even said it like him in that strange otherworldly way 😎
Well I think you should wake up Mr Tomek, not to imply you've been sleeping on the job. Nobody is more deserving of a rest than you.
I thought I was the only one for a moment
I loved that quote so much
(loud breathing) *MR FREEMAN*
I really really loved this movie. I liked how all the events started at different times and all caught up to every character.
I don't care what anyone says Dunkirk was an amazing movie, probably the best of 2017 and Nolan is one of the best directors ever...
Prior to seeing the film I read a book about 3 soldiers stories that survived Dunkirk. What came across was The sheer level of FEAR they felt 24/7. Consequently they fell asleep almost immediately they boarded a ship or boat( due to exhaustion) You may see shellshock in films, but to fear death or injury or capture for weeks on end is very hard to convey in a film. The fact is that This was a major VICTORY in that they pulled an army off the beaches in the face of defeat.The scene of all the little ships crossing the channel to rescue the troops has to be one of the most moving war scenes of all time. I still thought this was a GREAT film, and look forward to seeing it again. Hopefully at the cinema!
the scene of men standing on the battleship speaks so beautifully and so deeply to the isolation of each man. the reason, the silence, the sheer lack of humanity. its about the isolation of hundreds of men from comrades standing right next to them.
We need a movie like this but for Stalin grad. Told from both angles though
enemy at the gates is pretty good
@@CarlinConnolly No it’s not
Anyone else notice that Tom Hardy's face was only shown twice in the whole movie?
Thats good filmography right there
Why is it good?
@@MrBeastTellEm because nobody show's Tom Hardy's face
@@MrBeastTellEm I think because it emphasises the idea of the character being this unknown pilot that we don't know anything about, which adds to the sense that you're in the dark about what the mission is and what's going to happen along that subplot.
"The right man in the wrong place can make all the diffrence" 0:43
"The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world..."
-The G-man (Very nice touch!)
You have amazingly captured the main essence of this movie and reminded me of so many things that I had missed to articulate after having watched this movie. For example, the fact that the enemy is always labeled so and the cinematic effects it produces. Thank you so much...Much love.
Excellent commentary. Although to my eyes It's DEFINITELY a war movie. War isn't a genre, it's a backdrop. I know there have been enough "War films" to warrant a genre unto themselves but we set a dangerous trap for ourselves as artists and audiences when movies HAVE to follow certain tropes to fit said genre. I wouldn't want any film in any category to have to follow what came before it and i know that's not necessarily what you're saying here, but claiming Dunkirk isn't about war is a bit of paradoxical overthinking. Who's to say a faceless dehumanized enemy isn't actually a more accurate portrayal of a soldier's POV than what we've seen before? Just because other war films the soldiers have deep empathy and philosophical musings doesn't mean real life soldiers go through such things, an over generalization, but you're making assumptions about what qualifies as a war experience or story. In my humble opinion escape, claustrophobia, gunfire, dogfights, explosions, ptsd and hero civilian casualties are all powerful visual commentaries on perhaps a truer version of war than we've seen in ANY war film to date. That being said, I wouldn't put this in my top 3 favorite war films because as a story and film lover I like that Apocalypse Now and Saving Private Ryan explore the human psyche and relationships just as much as war, Dunkirk opted for a more visceral commentary on war and like most other Nolan films may start a new trend. Not all war movies are created equal nor should they be, that'd be boring, and war is complicated. Again, loved most of your commentary and looking forward to BR 2049!
I agree. Great explanation. Thanks.
If you read through the swarm of negative reviews about DUNKIRK, you might notice a common theme: boring, dull, lack of characters. It's incredibly disappointing that they seemed the miss the entire point of the film.This is not a film about heroic soldiers triumphing against all odds while blowing up Nazis with transformer-esque explosions.
This is a movie about scenes, not characters. -and every scene is memorable, from the bombings to the torpedoes to the aerial dogfights. My co-worker, who is obsessed with WW2 planes, noted how incredibly perfect they got the British Supermarine Spitfire from the roar of the Rolls-Royce engine to the rattle of the components in the cabin. The accuracy and intensity of the dogfight was captured perfectly as well, mimicking the aerial maneuvers, firepower and damage in a realistic and dramatic fashion. The torpedoes noticed only moments before impact with it's slow monotonous movement sent chills of realization down my spine. Even in the beginning of the film, the way in which the Nazi leaflets were presented gave you some glimpse into the panic and anxiety felt by those soldiers.
Really late here. But I'd disagree with your comments on Dunkirk not having a message.
It's message *is* that war is chaotic. That the men are left without communication, without supplies, without hope by those making decisions. That all of this drives men to act and survive in ways they would not have considered. So in this way, the enemy is not the Germans but death and that is why you do not see the Germans in clear view. That is why Nolan only refers to "the enemy" in my opinion (the implication at the end is that the RAF pilot is facing death not simply Germans). This is the reality of Dunkirk in history and in the film; it is the reality of war.
In this way, I think Dunkirk is one of the better war films. Not the roaring action-packed war films you listed. Its commentary might be more subtle as it is overarching throughout the film but it is there and it is cleverly shown. The silence, the lack of dialogue, the exhaustion, the lucky and the unlucky, the fear - it is all reinforcing the message that war is chaotic and this short episode (9 days) in our history, which has been glorified over time and in our history lessons, can still be boiled down the hopeless fear of death among frightened men let down by the decision-makers. That's a pretty strong and bold message in my opinion.
I think that Nolan trying to emphasize the events and show the audience characters going through them, as you said, puts us in a position of an officer or any man that was there really. You try really hard to care about a particular character but you have no information on said character. You end up caring about all of them. It forces a larger perspective of things upon you. It shows you how many people actually lived those events and you can't help but recognize their plight, not just the plight of a single character.
This movie *makes* us see that it's not just about one character, it's about every single being that was present during those hard times of war.
I remember last year during school, they decided to dedicate a day where they would play Dunkirk in the theater. It was originally meant to be just for the history classes, but the teachers were lenient and let other kids pay to watch it as well. I thought that throughout this movie there would be kids whispering or laughing in the background, but I was surprised to hear just silence except for in key moments. People would be reacting to different scenes with shock, or sadness, or general fear. I could even hear some of the kids sniffling or crying when some of the characters died. And when the movie was over, and we all were sent to lunch, just about everyone were telling each other about the film and how much they liked it. Even kids who normally don't ever speak of such things (they'd rather focus on other typical teenage topics, such as gossip, celebrities, homework, hanging out for the weekend, etc) were talking about the film and how they either liked it, loved it, or just thought it was ok and were talking about why.
It really surprised me that this movie was so good where it made just your average group of teens stuck in a school building, pretty much either being forced to watch this or do work for nearly two hours, all with a wide range of personalities and interests, who all in a way despite being more complex people could be filed into different clicks, all sit down after a film and talk about how it stood out to them; how they enjoyed it; how it made them feel the terror and dread of the people stuck there on Dunkirk during those tense fateful days. Obviously not everyone liked it, but the vast majority of my classmates did, and those who didn't, well they weren't even ridiculed for that opinion. They even had their own reasons to not like it, just as much as the people who did.
Really this film is something special if it was able to do that. To just, even for a brief short while, make a bunch of kids, who for the most part of their life never question the world around them and are more focused on the simpler things, actually sit down and discuss so deeply with each other the movie, what moments they liked, didn't like, which parts really hit emotionally, and basically whatever else they could think to talk about.
*Make an essay on exposition and world building*
Example: Blade Runner 2049 & Logan did an amazing job with atmospheric storytelling. Where Wonder Woman's lazy delivery on the whys and hows felt rushed, overlooked or forgotten about.
D.Aaron Felda good idea but I think Harry Potter or Lord of the rings did a better job of world building than ur example in my opinion
D.Aaron Felda didn't feel rushed to me tbh
those are honestly my top two movies from 2017
D.Aaron Felda
While Wonder Woman did have some plotholes and bad villains, I'd say that movie did a good job with atmosphere, the WW1 props and costumes were spot on and foggy London the bleak battlefields serve as a great contrast to the sunny paradise island WW came from. In contrast I felt the atmosphere of Blade Runner 2049 felt very watered down compared to the original.
I'd agree with Gertrud. I'd also agree that some aspects of Wonder Woman's world was lacking, the actual war scenes and the depiction of the Great War itself were absolutely great.
"If Nolan made a movie about atomic bombs." Queue the Oppenheimer trailer!
The 19 people who disliked are "the enemy"
This is probably the most relentless film I've ever seen...it truly feels like a film that's one long scene, not a collection of short ones. Partway through my first viewing I felt the need to take a pee break, so I waited for what felt like a respite in the forward momentum, a brief moment where it stops to catch its breath, and there simply never was one. I just had to wait until it was over before I could make for the bathroom.
The music in the first 20 minutes or so in Dunkirk was so unsettling.. It never let you breath. Kind of like the music in the beginning of The Dark Knight. It just keeps you on edge.
I'm going to show this movie to every girl I bring home...
If she says this movie is boring, she's walking back home.
Did you just quote Gman in the opening lol.
0:33
"It makes...all the difference...in the world."
You should do something about Inception.
I tink he did
I loved this film. I NEVER see movies in cinema anymore other than MCU movies, but my whole family saw this in the cinema and I’m so glad I did, it was such an experience.
Dunkirk is a visual feast, its an experience. Its moving and most importantly portrays the totality of fear.
And in its lowest moments it provides a redemptive quality that I must confess I found deeply moving.
Great review!
i see it as a survival horror because almost every second it felt like there was some sort of torture from the notes falling from the plane saying your surrounded trying to get in there heads or the siren from the dive bombers a very different kind of horror or is this just me
In some scenes I think it does give moral grounds, when the Jerries bomb a hospital ship, a clear warcrime. When you see the RAF taking down the luftwaffe, it does give you a side to support. War in itself is also about survival. Surviving to fight another day. It does portray war, but in a different sense. Have you seen Ross Kemp in Afghanistan? War isn't just non-stop action, there is a lot of waiting around and a lot of tension. There is typical saying within the British Army of "hurry up and wait." It could be argued that the war element in Dunkirk is focussed elsewhere, you rightly point it out.
Attention to detail in this film is fantastic, for example; the scene when they get back to Dorset. I love the fact they used the Swanage railway with period coaches and livery. Most films of the era will pick a locomotive and the BR Mk1 (designed in the 1950s).
Great film!
12:47 dude he just predicted the future
My thought exactly!
[Warning, contains some minor spoilers]
I've watched this movie twice now, yesterday being the second time. This time I was under the influence of a psychoactive substance called 2-cb, and had smoked a fair amount of pot. I carefully waited before the substances began to take hold, and pressed the start button, already riddled with fear as I vividly remembered the impact the movie had on my mind when I watched it for the first time, whilst being sober. The first scene already pulled my mind into an incredible, never before experienced vortex of anxiety, horror and longing for home. It became clear to me that I was about to see one of the most incredible manifestations of malevolent human behavior unfold right in front of me. As the movie progressed, and the sights and noises of Spitfires, Heinkels and Messerschmitts started to take their place in my room I was awestruck by the sheer intensity and suspense every scene represented. Combined with the mentioned substances I was literally able to feel the G-forces pulling on my body, and the shockwaves crashing into me. Every time I'd let my guard down and eased into a relatively comfortable state of mind, I was immediately awakened by cracks of gun fire ("Yeah he's down for the count" - followed immediately by the sound of bullets hitting the Spit).
Trying to put into words what I felt during every single scene would turn this into an essay itself, so I will skip to another moment which hit me like an artillery shell. At this point the colonel is standing on the beach, and has a conversation with an officer. As the officer remarks "The tide is turning...", the colonel replies with "How do you know?", which gets answered with "The bodies come back..."
Now, I've had a lifelong interest for human behavior, clashes of ideologies, and the concept of karma. I saw there one of the single most mind-blowing metaphors for karma I've ever witnessed in my entire life. I was all over the place, and had to pause for a second to clear my mind, looking for a moment of clarity which I realize the men at Dunkirk where never able to experience until after the ordeal was over (or maybe never experience again in their entire live). I smoked a fag, listened to the song "Dreams" from Nuages (in case someone is interested in the philosophical mindset), and soon I returned to the battleground.
Back into all of this, soon the claustrophobic scene arrived where the Highlanders discuss fiercely with one of the protagonists who should leave the tiny cramped space that was the trawler. What Christopher Nolan did here, in one of the most brilliant ways possible, was depict how the meanings of 'right' and 'wrong' fade away into oblivion as soon as you get to the bottomline of surviving. To realize that, makes it incredibly hard to condemn an individual for actions done in the fog of war.
I can go on for a while, but after an experience like that I'm too tired to write, and still more or less lost for words. More scenes that had impacted me deeply are the ones where the admiral braces for certain death (imagine your state of being when a Stuka comes screaming directly towards you), and the following quiet Spitfire soaring over the beaches, while the pilot had given it's absolute everything. Of course this piece of text doesn't contain every profoundly moving moment, as there are way too many in this masterpiece of cinematography.
My conclusion: This movie isn't about representing a strictly accurate portrayal of what really happened, it is all about reproducing the emotional experience the men and women involved had been trough, and how it destroys everything you thought you knew about humans. I can hardly imagine any war movie sending that message in a more sophisticated, and more thought trough manner than this one. I am deeply humbled to say the least.
[Bit of context: I consider myself to be quite an experienced "psychonaut". I cannot recommend doing drugs in general, but if you do, an experience like this is far from suited for recreational experimenting. My experience in doing this, is unique, and solely shaped by a complex mixture between the impulses coming from the screen and the characteristics of my own personality. If you try anyway: Godspeed.]
The build up and tension throughout the whole of ‘Dunkirk’ is relentless, it keeps you gripped, the soundtrack to the film created by Hanz Zimmer is incredible also
Nolan basically took a similar approach that Stanley Kubrick took for 2001: a space odyssey. Both films focus on humanity rather than one Character. Both films are split into several different, connecting stories with different characters.
I love the bombing run shot - it's amazing, and it's terrifying.
I work at a movie theater and when this came out, I saw this in theaters and hated it. But that doesn't mean I don't think this was a bad film. In fact, everyone knows that "Dunkirk" should've won the oscar for best picture instead of "Shape of Water" garbage!
Yeah, i watched shape of water and was bored to tears. i had to stop half way through. I was going to make a video essay on the film but i realized there just wasn't anything there.
what the hell even was Shape Of water?? such an unnecessary movie.
Mam wtf? Shape of the water its a very good film. I didt get bored at any moment
Dunkirk is such a brilliant and exceptional film! While one can nit pick at it, just keep in mind that EVERY movie has flaws. Still, Nolan executed this in such genius fashion that no other director could have pulled off.
Hans Zimmer really was perfect for this, his method of using the Shepard Tone and the constant ticking was incredible. Then only time in the movie this sound wasn’t there was at the end when they reach the homeland. Everything is just perfect with this movie. I truly admire directors like Nolan and Tarantino. The best scene is definitely the spitfire scene as it glides across the beach and receives the applaud from the soldiers.