Where I Watched it: MAX

English Audio Description?: Yes

Written By: Matthew Vickers

Narrated By Helen Beatty

I’ve already seen Dunkirk once before this, before I lost my vision. it was a stunning work. not only does nolan not believe in terrifying his audience through graphic violence, but for the most part he chose mostly fresh faces for this film, where his movies are usually loaded with stars. The biggest names are largely in supporting roles, and the leads are young faces to become attached to, including a young Harry Styles breaking into acting, as well as a pre-Oscar nomination Barry Keogan.

It’s his details that made Dunkirk work the first time around. Without a star on the battlefield, who are we supposed to follow? Without gore, how does he remind you war is hell? The answer is tension. nolan perfectly controls the tension and never overstays his welcome, as this is one of his shorter films, clocking in at about 100 minutes. Every second is used, and he knows exactly how long he can keep you at the edge of the seat.

It wasn’t a movie though that I really wanted to revisit. The rewatchability factor on war films sometimes isn’t as high. They really take a toll on you, because this really happened, and real people lost their lives. Men went out to fight and didn’t come home, and I’ve been tasked to write a movie review of an interpretation of their deaths from the comfort of my living room. That is not lost on me.

But I’m here to talk about watching this film with audio description. There are very strong pro’s here. Actually, since the audio description uses character names, it made it a lot easier to follow what previously were mostly unknown actors, and it becomes easy to track their experiences in the duration of the film. What I didn’t like so much was the choice of narrator. It’s appropriately British, as it should be. These are British soldiers dying. But sadly, Helen never felt invested in the gravitas of what she was narrating. I think there’s a debate about how much we can contribute in terms of personality in narration, and my answer would be a lot. When people read audio books, they don’t monotone. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to watch an ASL interprereter for a live theatre performance, they don’t phone it in. Often these ASL interpreters are as animated as the show requires. It truly does help make the experience more well rounded for those of us who use accessibility. Helen has a nice voice, but she lacked the investment in these lives that the audience craves. We may know how this battle turns out, but we do not know the individual fate of every soldier. Nolan does such a terrific job of building tension, the narrator should help hold that.

I’m not sure I’ll watch Dunkirk maybe more than once in my lifetime, as it just isn’t that kind of film. but it is a great effort from nolan that demands to be watched at least once. it is after all… his ONLY Academy Award nomination for direction.

Mind blown. I know.

Final Grade: A