Dunkirk (2017 film)
Dunkirk is a 2017 epic historical war thriller film written, directed and co-produced by Christopher Nolan that depicts the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II from the perspectives of the land, sea and air. It features an ensemble cast comprising Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, Harry Styles in his film debut, Aneurin Barnard, James D'Arcy, Barry Keoghan, Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, and Tom Hardy.
Not to be confused with Dunki (film).Dunkirk
Christopher Nolan
- Emma Thomas
- Christopher Nolan
Warner Bros. Pictures
- 13 July 2017 (Odeon Leicester Square)
- 21 July 2017 (United Kingdom and United States)
106 minutes[3]
- United Kingdom
- United States
- France
- Netherlands
English
$82.5–150 million[nb 1]
$530.4 million[12]
The film portrays the evacuation with little dialogue, as Nolan sought instead to create suspense through cinematography and music. Filming began in May 2016 in Dunkirk and wrapped 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. It employed thousands of extras as well as historic boats from the evacuation, and period aeroplanes.
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, Dunkirk premiered at Odeon Leicester Square in London, a few days before its release in the United Kingdom and United States on 21 July 2017. It grossed $527 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing World War II film until it was surpassed by Nolan's Oppenheimer (2023). Dunkirk received praise for its screenplay, direction, editing, score, sound design and cinematography; some critics called it Nolan's best work, and one of the greatest war films. It received various accolades, including eight nominations at the 90th Academy Awards: Best Picture and Best Director (Nolan's first directing Oscar nomination); it went on to win for Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing.
Plot[edit]
In 1940, during the Battle of France, Allied soldiers retreat to Dunkirk encircled by the enemy. Tommy flees through the perimeter held by French troops to the beach, where thousands await evacuation, and helps Gibson to bury a body. After Luftwaffe dive-bombers attack, they attempt to board a hospital ship at the single, vulnerable mole available for embarking on deep-draft ships, by rushing a wounded man on a stretcher but are ordered off. They overhear Commander Bolton, Colonel Winnant and a Rear Admiral discuss the best way to get their army evacuated. The ship is sunk by dive bombers; Tommy saves a Highlanders regiment soldier, Alex. The three board a destroyer, but it is hit by a torpedo before it can depart; Gibson saves Tommy and Alex as the ship sinks, and they return to the beach.
The Royal Navy requisitions civilian vessels in England to get to Dunkirk. In Weymouth, civilian sailor Dawson, with his son Peter, set out in his boat Moonstone, rather than let the Navy commandeer her. Their teenage hand George joins them on impulse. In the English Channel, they save a shivering shell-shocked soldier from a ship destroyed by a U-boat. Realising that Dawson is going for Dunkirk, the soldier panics and Peter locks him up. The soldier escapes, urging they turn back and tries to wrest control of the boat; in the scuffle, he elbows George who suffers a head injury that blinds him; as the soldier dwells on his actions, George reveals to Peter he came hoping to do something noteworthy. Three Royal Air Force Spitfires fly towards Dunkirk, to provide cover for the evacuation, limited to one hour of operation by their fuel supply. They engage in a dogfight with an enemy fighter. One of the pilots, Farrier, has his fuel gauge smashed by another fighter. He and the second Spitfire pilot, Collins, determine that their leader has gone down and fly on. The crew of the Moonstone witness the two RAF pilots protect a minesweeper from a bomber: Collins’s Spitfire is hit by a fighter and he ditches. Although trapped in his canopy as the plane sinks, Collins is saved by Peter.
Tommy, Alex and Gibson and Highlanders soldiers hide in a grounded trawler in the intertidal zone outside the perimeter, waiting for the rising tide. After its Dutch sailor returns, Germans start shooting at the boat for target practice, and water enters through the bullet holes. Alex, attempting to lighten the boat, accuses Gibson, who has been silent, of being a German spy. Gibson reveals he is French; he took the identity of the British soldier he buried. The group abandons the sinking boat, but Gibson is entangled in a chain and drowns. Farrier chooses to continue aiding the evacuation, despite realising that he will never make it home. The destroyer is bombed and sinks, as Moonstone manoeuvres to save men in the water, including Alex, as the shivering soldier starts helping. Peter finds George is dead; asked by the shivering soldier, he says George will be fine. Farrier shoots the bomber down; its crash ignites oil on the water, but Peter saves Tommy. Farrier reaches Dunkirk just as his fuel runs out. Gliding, he shoots down a dive-bomber approaching the mole, and is cheered on by the troops. Farrier lands his Spitfire on the beach beyond the perimeter, burns it and calmly awaits capture. Dawson has the boat evade aerial attack, using a technique taught by his deceased elder son, a pilot lost at the start of the war.
With 300,000 men successfully evacuated, Commander Bolton stays to oversee the French evacuation. In Weymouth, the shivering soldier sees George's body and exchanges a glance with Dawson, as he and Collins depart. Tommy and Alex board a train with other soldiers and are heralded by the public at Woking. Tommy reads Churchill's address, encouraging Britain to fight on. Peter arranges for the media to eulogise George.
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Dunkirk grossed $188 million in the United States and Canada, and $337 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $525 million, against a production budget of $100–150 million.[12][137] Globally, it became the highest-grossing World War II film (not adjusting for inflation) at the time, surpassing Saving Private Ryan's $482 million,[138][139] until it was surpassed by Nolan's own Oppenheimer in 2023.[140]
In the United States and Canada, industry tracking for the opening weekend ranged from Variety's $30–40 million[141] to Deadline Hollywood's $35 million,[134] while BoxOffice speculated an opening weekend of $55 million,[142] and IndieWire $50 million and $500 million worldwide.[143] Dunkirk made $19.8 million on its first day, including $5.5 million from preview screenings. It went on to finish first at the box office with $50.1 million, marking the third-largest opening for a World War II film (behind Captain America: The First Avenger's $62.1 million and Pearl Harbor's $59.1 million), as well as the fourth-largest of Nolan's career.[108] In its second weekend, it grossed $26.6 million (a drop of 44.3%), beating newcomer The Emoji Movie to the top spot.[108] The film grossed $17.1 million in its third weekend, second to newcomer The Dark Tower ($19.2 million),[108] and was again second in its fourth week, behind Annabelle: Creation with $10.9 million.[108]
The film opened in France on 19 July 2017, and made $2.2 million on its first day. It was released in seven markets the following day, earning an additional $6.3 million, and on 21 July in forty-six more countries, grossing $12.7 million from over ten thousand theatres, including $3.7 million from the United Kingdom.[144] The international debut totalled $55.4 million, including $4.9 million in France, $12.4 million in the UK and $10.3 million in Korea.[145] The film remained number one in the United Kingdom for five weeks.[146] It opened in China on 1 September[147] in the top spot,[148] grossing $30 million from its weekend debut.[149] Its opening weekend in Japan earned $2.9 million from 444 screens.[150]
Critical response[edit]
Some critics called Dunkirk Nolan's best film to date[151] and one of the greatest war films ever made.[152][153][154] On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 92% based on 461 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads "Dunkirk serves up emotionally satisfying spectacle, delivered by a writer-director in full command of his craft and brought to life by a gifted ensemble cast that honors the fact-based story."[155] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 94 out of 100 based on reviews from 53 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[156] According to MRQE, it has an average rating of 86/100, based on 128 critics.[157] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 88% overall positive score, with 63% saying they would recommend it.[108] The Guardian ranked the film at No. 13 on their list of "The 50 top films of 2017".[158] The Independent named it the 7th-best film of the year.[159] Time magazine included the film on its "Top 10 movies of 2017" list.[160]
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian awarded the film five out of five and called it Nolan's best to date, saying that he "surrounds his audience with chaos and horror from the outset, and amazing images and dazzlingly accomplished set pieces on a huge 70 mm screen, particularly the pontoon crammed with soldiers extending into the churning sea, exposed to enemy aircraft".[161] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter also lauded the film, calling it "an impressionist masterpiece" that was "deeply moving" but without "manufactured sentimentality or false heroics". He also praised the score, which "enormously strengthens the film" and "incorporates both sound and music to extraordinary effect".[162] Peter Debruge of Variety praised the plot (although calling Zimmer's score "bombastic"), writing: "[Nolan has] delivered all the spectacle of a big-screen tentpole, ratcheting up both the tension and heroism through his intricate and occasionally overwhelming sound design".[2] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times described the film as a "tour de force of cinematic craft and technique" and lauded Nolan's elastic approach to narrative.[163] She named Dunkirk "the best film of 2017".[164] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle called it a "triumph" and "masterpiece", commending Nolan's unique approach to directing a war film.[165] The Economist labelled Dunkirk "a remarkable film" and a new classic.[166] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four out of four and said it was one of the best war movies of the decade, describing it as "tight, gripping, deeply involving and unforgettable ... triumph in filmmaking".[167] Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave the film an "A", calling it the best of 2017: "By the end of Dunkirk, what stands out the most isn't its inspirational message or everyday heroism. It's the small indelible, unshakeable images that accumulate like the details in the corner of a mural".[168]
Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph gave the film five out of five, lauding it as "a work of heart-hammering intensity and grandeur".[169] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded it his first four-star rating of 2017 as "maybe the greatest war film ever", adding: "There's little doubt that [Nolan] has, without sentimentality or sanctimony, raised [the survival film] genre to the level of art ... with the resonant force of an enduring screen classic". He also called it the first major Oscar contender of the year.[170] Michael Medved awarded it four out of four and called Hardy's performance "outstanding", and the action "seamless", declaring: "This is not only the best WWII movie since Saving Private Ryan, it is very simply one of the greatest war movies ever made".[171] Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave it a score of three and a half out of four, despite not liking the film, stating that he "loathed parts of it and found other parts repetitious or half-baked. But, maybe paradoxically, I admired it throughout, and have been thinking about it constantly".[172] Jacques Mandelbaum of Le Monde praised the film's realism, but was disappointed that it ignores the part played by French troops.[173] Kevin Maher in The Times gave it two out of five, saying: "[Dunkirk] is 106 clamorous minutes of big-screen bombast that's so concerned with its own spectacle and scale that it neglects to deliver the most crucial element—drama." He also suggested that Dunkirk felt like a Call of Duty video game.[174] David Cox of The Guardian felt the film had historical inaccuracies, a paucity of female characters, small scale, a thinly characterised cast and lack of suspense.[175] In the London Review of Books, Michael Wood compared it to the films of Luis Buñuel and commended Zimmer's soundtrack as an effective match to the film.[176]
In 2018, a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for Time Out magazine saw it ranked among the "100 Best British Films" of all time.[177] The same year, The Washington Post named Dunkirk as one of the "23 best films of the 2000s".[178] Rolling Stone, Total Film and Quentin Tarantino classified it as one of the best films of the 2010s.[179][180][181]
