"Dunkirk:" A Review
"Dunkirk" is a high profile, high budget film about the retreat of British and French forces to the beaches of Dunkirk, France in the early days of World War Two. It was a pivotal several days in history with 450,000 British soldiers trapped against the sea as German troops slowly advanced to destroy the existing British army. The next step would be the British island itself with complete control of the Western Front. Hitler could then turn his attention to the East.
What prevented this logical sequence was astonishing, heroic and world-changing. The British dug in to await their fate; on the periphery vicious fighting, massacres of prisoners, incredible tactical decisions were routine. French forces were particularly heroic in holding the Germans at bay.
Eventually 330,000 British troops were rescued by fishing boats and private ships from the small ports all across England in one of the most astonishing defeats and rescues the world has ever seen. It kept the British army intact and completely changed the War.
The movie treats these events with a curious eye. It is less interested in the big picture of the story and seems to be sympathetic to the travails of individual soldiers teetering on the abyss. It opens with several soldiers desperately fleeing the German advance and follows one of them throughout his several days escape. The face of the enemy is never seen but the effect of their long range war is brutal and devastating. Time and again soldiers come close to escape only to be denied and to try again. As the movie progresses one begins to feel as if you are watching "Into Thin Air" or "Revenant." It is a story of suffering, endurance and luck. One young man singled out as a hero by his hometown paper
was killed by accident by one of his fellows. A telling element is the British pilot who is involved in much of the action; his face is never seen until the very last moment of the story when he is revealed to be Tom Hardy.
In this story, even the stars are ciphers. And there is no Big Picture.
"Dunkirk" is a high profile, high budget film about the retreat of British and French forces to the beaches of Dunkirk, France in the early days of World War Two. It was a pivotal several days in history with 450,000 British soldiers trapped against the sea as German troops slowly advanced to destroy the existing British army. The next step would be the British island itself with complete control of the Western Front. Hitler could then turn his attention to the East.
What prevented this logical sequence was astonishing, heroic and world-changing. The British dug in to await their fate; on the periphery vicious fighting, massacres of prisoners, incredible tactical decisions were routine. French forces were particularly heroic in holding the Germans at bay.
Eventually 330,000 British troops were rescued by fishing boats and private ships from the small ports all across England in one of the most astonishing defeats and rescues the world has ever seen. It kept the British army intact and completely changed the War.
The movie treats these events with a curious eye. It is less interested in the big picture of the story and seems to be sympathetic to the travails of individual soldiers teetering on the abyss. It opens with several soldiers desperately fleeing the German advance and follows one of them throughout his several days escape. The face of the enemy is never seen but the effect of their long range war is brutal and devastating. Time and again soldiers come close to escape only to be denied and to try again. As the movie progresses one begins to feel as if you are watching "Into Thin Air" or "Revenant." It is a story of suffering, endurance and luck. One young man singled out as a hero by his hometown paper
was killed by accident by one of his fellows. A telling element is the British pilot who is involved in much of the action; his face is never seen until the very last moment of the story when he is revealed to be Tom Hardy.
In this story, even the stars are ciphers. And there is no Big Picture.
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