Dunkirk

Okay, so I go a whole month without one blog post and now I make two in one day, but I saw "Dunkirk" and I must say, it was fantastic.  Right from the start, it was completely terrifying and shocking and very emotional.  The episodic style was so compelling and I felt like Christopher Nolan had put the film together like you were actually there -- it felt confusing and unbelievable and terrible and yet there were lots of really beautiful scenes -- the sweep of the beach and the peacefulness of the little town with all the fliers falling from the sky, fliers that said, "you are surrounded".  There isn't much dialogue, but all the actors are terrific and I think it catches both the heroism and the senselessness of all of it.  I like that he chose this moment of the war -- not a big victory in battle but a retreat in which all the "little boats" saved the broken army.  He captured the navy, the army and the air force and tried to show the nightmares that each faced and even the civilians, with Mark Rylance playing a man who had a small boat that he took to help the cause.  I understand that it is a huge hit, even in the United States, and well deserved, I think.

It is fairly easy to make me cry, but I cried throughout the movie and I wondered partway through if I could stand it, because it was so terrifying and emotional.  But I was glad I stayed for the end.  If you are thinking of seeing a movie, this is the one to go to.