Screen 1 at Curzon Mayfair is one of the best auditoriums in London.

The last time I was here was to see the sprawling epic Cloud Atlas.

Today’s film is a much shorter, more focused production – director Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk.

I didn’t have high expectations of this film, but it turned out to be gripping and intense.

There are two main elements that make ‘Dunkirk’ a cut above run-of-the-mill war films.

The first is the subtle style of storytelling.

Rather than follow just one individual or group, the film rotates among different characters each with their own hellish experience of the Dunkirk evacuation. The film doesn’t tell the tale of a single heroic individual; instead, we glimpse the lives of a range of people caught up in the drama. This reflects the far-reaching consequences of the conflict and makes the film much more powerful than if it had simply glorified one specific character.

The second remarkable quality of this film is Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack, as pitiless and unrelenting as the attacks endured by the soldiers and civilians caught up in the conflict.

It would have been hard to listen to such an intense soundtrack for much longer than the film’s 1h 46 running time. But it keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout.

Feeling slightly stunned by the time ‘Dunkirk’ ended, I headed out the cinema and into a beautiful late July evening.

The contrast between the carnage and horror of the film and the tranquillity of this summer evening in London was very striking.

People were sitting at outside tables enjoying their meals at the Lebanese restaurants next to the cinema.

In nearby Green Park and St James’s Park it was incredibly quiet and peaceful, even though these parks are in the heart of one of the biggest and busiest cities in the world.

At Trafalgar Square I went down the steps to Charing Cross underground station as the light blue evening sky faded over the elegant white façade of the National Gallery.

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