Mark Rylance did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Mr. Dawson in Dunkirk.
The nature of Dunkirk is one of the most pure example of a cinematic approach where I do think it is one film where it was absolutely meant for its original format to the most pronounced extreme, having said that, still works for me even in the lesser format of a home viewing, even on a larger television screen. Relevant though is Christopher Nolan’s emphasis on the visual approach for the material where the amount of backstory per character is very limited. The character probably with the most backstory is Mark Rylance as the “lead” of the boat story, where an older English gentleman goes with his son, and ill-fated friend George (Barry Keoghan, who I was taken by being reminded of just how not creepy he is here) to rescue men from Dunkirk using his own boat. Rylance's performance very much from the outset is about stature and developing that specific comforting presence of an old fashioned unfussy English gentlemen intent on doing the right thing. Initially what Rylance does is to not really put too much on anything, showing a very internalized determination fitting for the quiet man he is as he prepares the boat, before the navy can commandeer it themselves and set sail. Even his warning to George that they are going into war Rylance’s delivery of the line is with a subdued yet potent urgency of someone who speaks in fundamental truths and with an innate earnestness about himself. Rylance sets up the character effectively as empathetic respectability with the presence of a quiet established dignity for the good natured patriarch of the time.
The journey is naturally not the easiest though on the more hopeful outset of the trip Rylance’s moment of beaming with pride at the spitfire planes, even giving a bit of history on their engines Rylance exemplifies the specific belief in the planes. Something that one could take as just belief in his country, but it extends to something beyond that. Rylance lays the groundwork for what are the essential truths of his character. The first important moment of the trip comes in as the boat picks up the only survivor of a sunken ship, the shivering soldier (Cillian Murphy). A man clearly suffering PTSD from the attack and refuses to stay on the boat that is headed back to the danger in Dunkirk. Rylance is fantastic in the way he presents the measured approach Dawson takes to dealing with the man at a breaking point. Rylance brings first just this considerable calm where his eyes bring so much empathy for the man’s brokenness, yet there is the perfect type of conviction in his voice as he notes that they can’t run away from the way. Rylance brings such a simple certainty to the moment that is absolutely wonderful. As is his moment of realization of just how of an extreme the man is, and falsely says they’ll turn around. Rylance brings such a gentle disarming quality to his performance, where his eyes note the real danger the man is posing before doing his best to alleviate the situation. Rylance offers such calm as he lies to the man by saying that they’ll chart a course. Even when shortly afterwards the man attacks Mr. Dawson, in order to get control of the wheel, Rylance’s reaction is still not of anger or fear but rather surprise at the extreme desperation of the man in the moment. Even after that though Rylance believably stays largely as this rock of dignified determination. And what makes Rylance stand out though is the quiet internal life in every decision, with an innate empathy, and the suggestion of key moments of pride. Rylance consistently offers some greater sense of the story of Mr. Dawson even though we are eventually only given one clear piece of motivation for Mr. Dawson. Something that Rylance establishes before we are told the moment when the boat has the chance to save a downed fighter pilot. Suddenly Rylance loses all his composure, and it is especially striking because of how quietly reserved he is the rest of the time. The urgency Rylance brings is emotional and honestly very moving as the panic is real and there is more going on with Mr. Dawson then just trying to save this one pilot. Rylance’s delivery suddenly hurried and in his own way desperate in his insistence that they try to save the man. A moment that is later explained when Dawson’s son tells the saved pilot that Dawson's older son had been a pilot who had been killed. An element that doesn’t change Rylance’s performance but rather one can see that Rylance already made it clear. The quiet determination, the moments of specific pride in the RAF, and that key moment of losing his own grip, all reveal a grieving father who wants to live by his son’s example and do everything in his power to honor his memory. Rylance manages to fully embody the type of the volunteering older gentlemen but naturally goes further both in the bigger moments but also the nuance in every small detail he has.
