Introduction

Dunkirk is a 2017 war film written, directed, and produced by Christopher Nolan that depicts the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II.

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Its ensemble cast includes Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles, Aneurin Barnard, James D’Arcy, Barry Keoghan, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, and Tom Hardy.

Dunkirk portrays the evacuation from three perspectives: land, sea, and air. It has little dialogue, as Nolan sought instead to create suspense from cinematography and music.

Filming began in May 2016 in Dunkirk and ended that September in Los Angeles, when post-production began. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema shot the film on IMAX 65 mm and 65 mm large-format film stock.

Dunkirk has extensive practical effects, and employed thousands of extras as well as historic boats from the evacuation, and period aeroplanes.

Outline

In 1940, during the Battle of France, Allied soldiers have retreated to Dunkirk. Tommy, a young British private, is the sole survivor of a German ambush. At the beach, he finds thousands of troops awaiting evacuation and meets Gibson, who is burying a body. After a Luftwaffe dive-bomber attack, they find a wounded man. They rush his stretcher onto a hospital ship, hoping to get aboard, but are ordered off. The ship is sunk by dive bombers; Tommy saves another soldier, Alex. They leave at night on a destroyer, but are torpedoed by a U-boat. Gibson saves Tommy and Alex from the sinking ship, and they get back to the beach.

With a single, vulnerable mole available for embarking on deep-draft ships, the Royal Navy requisitions civilian vessels in Great Britain that can get to the beach. In Weymouth, a civilian sailor Dawson, with his son Peter, sets out on his boat Moonstone, rather than let the Navy commandeer her. Impulsively, their teenage hand George joins them. At sea, they rescue a shivering shell-shocked soldier from a wrecked ship. When he realises that Dawson is sailing for Dunkirk, the soldier demands that they turn back and tries to wrest control of the boat; in the scuffle, George suffers a head injury that renders him blind. Elsewhere, three Spitfires, tasked with defending the evacuation, cross the English Channel. After their leader is shot down in a dogfight, one of the pilots, Farrier, assumes command, but the other Spitfire is hit and ditches. Its pilot, Collins, is rescued by Moonstone.

Tommy, Alex and Gibson join some soldiers of a Highlanders regiment and hide inside a beached trawler in the intertidal zone outside the Allied perimeter, waiting for the rising tide to refloat it. German troops shoot at the boat, and water enters through the bullet holes. Alex, hoping to lighten the boat, accuses Gibson, who has stayed silent, of being a German spy. Gibson reveals he is French; he stole the identity of the dead British soldier he buried, hoping to be evacuated with the British. The group abandons the boat when it begins to sink, but Gibson is entangled in a chain and drowns. When a nearby minesweeper is sunk by a bomber, Moonstone manoeuvres to take on those in the water, including Tommy and Alex. Peter discovers that George is dead. Asked by the shell-shocked soldier, he lies and says that George is fine.

Farrier reaches Dunkirk before his fuel runs out. Gliding over the beach, he shoots down a dive-bomber, saving ships and troops, and lands beyond the perimeter. He sets fire to his plane before being taken prisoner by the Germans. In all, over 300,000 men are evacuated. Royal Navy Commander Bolton stays to oversee the evacuation of the French. Arriving back in Weymouth, Dawson is congratulated for having saved so many men. The shell-shocked soldier sees George’s body being carried away. Peter goes to the local newspaper; a front-page article commends George as a hero. Tommy and Alex board a train, and receive a hero’s welcome when the train arrives in Woking.

Trivia

• The film premiered on 13 July 2017 at Odeon Leicester Square in London, and was released in the United Kingdom and United States on 21 July in IMAX, 70 mm, and 35 mm film formats.
• It is the highest-grossing World War II film, making $526 million worldwide.
• Dunkirk received praise for its screenplay, direction, musical score, sound effects, and cinematography; some critics called it Nolan’s best work, and one of the greatest war films.
• The film received eight nominations at the 23rd Critics’ Choice Awards, winning for Best Editing, eight at the 71st British Academy Film Awards, winning for Best Sound, and three at the 75th Golden Globe Awards.
• At the 90th Academy Awards, it received eight nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director (Nolan’s first Oscar nomination for directing); it went on to win for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Film Editing.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): Christopher Nolan.
• Producer(s): Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan.
• Writer(s): Christopher Nolan.
• Music: Hans Zimmer.
• Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema.
• Editor(s): Lee Smith.
• Production: Warner Bros. Pictures, Syncopy Inc., RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Canal+, Cine+, and StudioCanal.
• Distributor(s): Warner Bros. Pictures.
• Release Date: 13 July 2017.
• Running Time: 106 minutes.
• Country: UK, US, France, and Netherlands.
• Language: English.