Dunkirk (2017) film review

Year: 2017
Running Time: 106 minutes
Writer/Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy, Fionn Whitehead, Cillian Murphy, James D'Arcy, Aneurin Barnard, Harry Styles, Jack Lowden, Tom Glynn-Carney, Barry Keoghan

Dunkirk will be released in Australia by Roadshow Films on July 20 and in the United States by Warner Bros Pictures on July 21. 

When it comes to his films, Christopher Nolan is no stranger to winning the approval of audience's and critics alike. Yet with Dunkirk, he takes this admiration to a whole new level.

Dunkirk is a major cinematic force with Nolan's masterful storytelling and phenomenal direction. The film is a stunning piece of art that retells a well known piece of history in an unique, intense and enthralling way. While Dunkirk is being hailed as Nolan's finest film to date, it does not need to be grouped together with his past films in order to be considered a stroke of genius.

The events which took place on the beach at Dunkirk are considered to be a miracle. The prospect of a mass evacuation of over 300000 British troops on the French beach during World War II initially seemed impossible due to the lack of resources needed for a rescue. This story has been taught in classrooms all over the world as part of WWII studies and there have been several retellings in popular culture. However, none quite like Dunkirk. 

The film is a tense and intriguing time lapse of three equally important facets of the most important day at Dunkirk- land, sea and air. Dunkirk is not a typical war narrative, as it represents just a snapshot in time and is driven entirely by the theme of survival. For the soldiers waiting on the beach, they were defenceless against the enemy. There was no way of fighting back against the bombers from the ground. The film shows the desperation of the soldiers as they fight for their life and how far people will go to stay alive. It also looks at how survival itself is heroic and is something that is to be celebrated, not scorned.

The inherent nature of films that deal with survival is that they must be suspenseful. Whether the viewer knows who will survive or not is irrelevant. Dunkirk is so intense that it often makes one forget to breathe. The film is just the perfect example of everything coming together to get the most out of it's screenplay. Nolan brings a trio of moments of warfare terror together all at once at regular intervals throughout the film to build tension to the highest level, with the help of Hans Zimmer's brilliant score and phenomenal sound editing. These scenes come with incredible sweeping shots of Dunkirk and astonishing cinematography by Hoyte Van Hoytema of land, sea and sky.

It is easy to look at the characterization in Dunkirk the way you would at other feature films, in which case it would be exceptionally weak. We come away knowing very little about each of the main characters.This would usually mean we feel no emotional connection towards anybody in the film and do not care whether they survive or not. However, the lack of identity of each of the characters serves a purpose here.

There were 400000 soldiers stranded on the beach at Dunkirk hoping for a miracle that would allow them survive and find their own way home. It didn't matter who these soldiers were at home, while they were at war they were all stripped of their identity and nameless and faceless in the eyes of the enemy. During those final days at Dunkirk, it was all about survival no matter who you were and where you were from. Most of the soldiers cast are physically alike to emphasise this point. Despite the lack of character in the film, there are some wonderful performances with Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh and Tom Hardy being stand-outs.

Dunkirk is stunning filmmaking. While it is confronting and incredibly intense, it is gratifyingly so thanks to Christopher Nolan's outstanding direction and creative vision.

9/10

In The Heart of The Sea (2015) film review

Year: 2015
Running Time: 122 minutes
Director: Ron Howard
Writers: Nathaniel Philbrick (book "In The Heart of The Sea: The Tragedy of The Whaleship Essex"), Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (story), Charles Leavitt (story and screenplay)
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Whishaw, Benjamin Walker, Tom Holland, Michelle Fairley, Paul Anderson, Frank Dillane

In The Heart of The Sea is now showing in Australian cinemas and is distributed by Roadshow Films. Opening in the United States December 11 and the United Kingdom December 26.

Ron Howard's ambitious tale of survival, In The Heart of The Sea is a visually stunning film that gives only momentary suspense, intrigue and emotion and when it does, it is more at the hands of the majestic sea creatures featured rather than their human counterparts.

Based on the incredible true story which inspired Herman Melville's classic novel "Moby Dick", In The Heart of the Sea is the recount of the disaster of the whaling ship, the Essex in 1820 as told by survivor, Tom Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson) to Melville (Ben Whishaw) many years after the event took place. Nickerson was just a young cabin boy when he was aboard the doomed ship that was captained by George Pollard (Benjamin Walker) who clashed with the First Mate being the more experienced shipman, Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth). The Essex, which set out to retrieve whale oil, hears of a recently discovered whale hunting ground where they were sure to obtain more oil, but ignore the warnings of a monstrous, dangerous whale who is not intimidated at all by humans. The crew's voyage takes a disastrous turn upon meeting this mammal and then turns into a struggle for survival.

In The Heart of The Sea is a glorious film visually with wonderful special effects and breathtaking marine panoramas. The concept of bringing the story of the ill-fated Essex to the screen is an extremely ambitious project which could not have been achieved in a believable fashion until the right cinematic techniques were made available. The creation of the world beneath the surface is spectacular and brought to life with clean cut cinematography. It is the giants of the sea that are the true stars and highlight of the film. Despite being a product of CGI, one is entranced by the majestic nature of the beasts and feels greatly for them, including the "devil". This can make watching the characters participate in the act of whaling during the film rather distressing. The film itself does not glorify whaling, but rather presents it as an activity that was accepted as normal in order to obtain oil. Yet, this act does draw more emotion for the whales than for the crew of the Essex as they battle for survival.

The emotion felt for the humans of the story is rather weak in comparison to the whales. Their survival techniques are indeed tragic, but they are not felt on an emotional level and are merely just acknowledged by the viewer. The suspense in the film is rather sporadic and are reserved, once again, just for the scenes involving the whales. It is true that the ending of the film is known right from the start as Melville is interviewing a survivor, but this is not an adequate reason to lose it's sense of tension as many films with a known conclusion are able to hold tension for the majority of it's run time. The lapses in tension are also lapses in intrigue and this leads to the film feeling rather slow, especially during the opening scenes which make the film appear slow to get going.

It would seem that with In The Heart of The Sea, Howard directs the natural world better than he does his actors for the large part. Brendan Gleeson is the stand out as his character of the older Tom Nickerson evolves from being hostile and extremely guarded to opening up to Melville and believably releasin years of inner torment. While Chris Hemsworth is top billed, his performance can be described as just fine. He is solid, but it is not anything we haven't already seen from Hemsworth in previous films and does not break any ground for him as an actor. However, Hemsworth remains likable and a fine leading man. Cillian Murphy is very good, but does not have as much screen time as he should to make a proper impact in the film.

In The Heart of The Sea is a film that could have been made years ago had it not been for it's need for the specialised CGI and special effects that are present today. However, these features are truly the best things about the film and it's spectacular scenes with the whales will be what it s remembered for.

6/10

Inception

Inception
Year: 2010
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Watanbe, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine

In My Own Words
I would have been insanely disappointed if “Inception” had not lived up to my expectations. It’s not often I admit that about a film, or that I even let myself think like that. All I had to do was look at the components that made up this film in order to get excited. The combination of an intriguing storyline, one of the best directors going around at the moment and a stellar cast which includes many an award nominee, what wasn’t there to be excited about?! And....I was not disappointed. “Inception” is pure brilliance. So brilliant that I am afraid my review won’t do it justice. I left the cinema completely speechless and all I could so was hold up 9 fingers to my other half to indicate my rating out of 10.

Unlike many other movies, “Inception” is able to excel on all levels. Many wonderful films will be wonderful for either the acting or the cinematography, but not often does a film come along which excels in both. “Inception” does. Christopher Nolan has placed everything together perfectly and his knack for selecting his cast members is definitely commendable. Personally, I believe Leonardo DiCaprio and Marion Cotillard are two of the finest actors alive at the moment. DiCaprio seems to be getting better and better. In high school, I struggled to take DiCaprio seriously for his heart throb status from films such as “Romeo + Juliet” and “Titanic”. Don’t get me wrong, he was good in both and the movies weren’t bad, but it is hard for actors to be taken seriously when their posters are up in everything 14 year olds locker at school. However, “The Aviator”, “The Departed” and “Blood Diamond” each showed how far this man has come and how he is definitely one of the best actors of our time. And Marion Cotillard, she has the ambience on the screen that the stars of the Golden Hollywood age. Her Oscar winning role in “La Vie En Rose” made the world sit up and take notice of this French star and she has shown her quality continuingly since then in glowing roles in “Public Enemies” and “Nine”.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
“What's the most resilient parasite? An Idea.” In this quote, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Cobb is speaking about the implantation of ideas in the human mind, although it could well be “Inception” director, Christopher Nolan describing his journey with his new masterpiece. Nolan approached Warner Bros with the idea for “Inception” first back in 2002 without a script, but even without this, both he and Warner Bros knew what they had in their hands. From this idea grew the larger than life and mind-blowing “Inception” which has only just been released now in July 2010. It has well been worth the wait. Nolan could well be one of the best directors of our time. He pushes everything to the limit in this film and every little detail is sewn up tightly and with the greatest care. This film could well be the best of the year.

Cobb and his partner Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are in the business of extracting information from the minds of others by exploring their subconscious in their dreams. It seems as though they have nearly come to the end of the road, when Cobb, who is still recovering from the death of his wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard) is approached by Saito (Ken Watanbe) with an offer he can’t refuse. Along with Arthur and the help of architectural genius, Ariadne (Ellen Page) they begin to try and plant an idea in the mind of Robert Fischer Jr. (Cillian Murphy), but little do they know the dark depths they are really exploring of not only Fischer’s mind, but of someone else’s mind that is far more dangerous.

Absolutely everything about “Inception” is amazing. The story is completely original and wonderfully written by Nolan. It is absolutely intriguing and extremely clever, with no stone been left unturned and no questions are left unanswered. Nolan completely captures the dream world and will make you remember things from your dreams that you normally do forget once you have woken up. The whole concept of extracting information from dreams and implanting ideas in people’s dreams is complete genius. The cinematography and special effects are definitely something to write home about and people will leave the cinema talking about their favourite sequences. “Inception” is one of those movies you will have to see at the cinema to get the most out of. The musical score is also perfectly suited to the movie and is able to capture the darkness of the situation at hand.

The acting is superb in “Inception”. The acting and the storyline are what differentiates ‘Inception” from all the other action and sci-fi blockbusters out there. The acting fleshes out the raw human emotion involved in the situations in the films and draws the viewer in even more. The star of the film is DiCaprio and he is back to his high calibre of acting. He draws on his past roles of both the tough talking detective and the sensitive husband and father and combines them both in this role with fantastic results. He is a mystery, but at the same time connects with the audience on many levels. Marion Cotillard is also superb. It is like she plays multiple roles in this film..the loving wife and mother, the unstable wife and mother, the seductress, the evil spirit and the list goes on. She is completely believable and an amazing character who has so much presence and control over the audience every time she appears on the screen. High praise definitely goes to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page and Cillian Murphy. Each of these actors plays a role completely unlike any other role they have every done and pulls it off perfectly, which is rises another praise for Nolan. He cast these actors and pushes them to their limits in roles which they are not known for . Nolan is a director which actors relate to very well, hence why so many actors he has previously worked with keep re-appearing in his films. Many of his co-stars would have had to have been jealous of Gordon-Levitt however, he is part of some of the most awesome scenes in the movie which would have been a real treat to have taken part in.

“Inception” is not to be missed. This is definitely Nolan’s best film to date and he is worthy of every piece of praise that he receives for it. He could have well been responsible for the best film of the year and one can only hope that the academy remembers him come Oscar season next year. There are many awards he and his cast should win for this masterpiece and there is no reason they shouldn’t be remembered next year, as “Inception” is a film that will not be forgotten.
9.5/10