Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon – © 2016 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Ratpac-Dune Entertainment LLC and Ratpac Entertainment, LLC (imdb.com)
Feeling a bit Anglophilic, which is beautiful and natural and I don’t care what others think of it, I saw Dunkirk on opening night. We’ve never done a movie review at Wayfarer Daves, but I felt it was appropriate to write about.
Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk is about the 1940 evacuation of British troops from France at the beaches of Dunkirk. Germany invaded France on May 10, 1940 and after a string of victories cut off the British Expeditionary Force on the coast of France. With no hope of victory, the surrounded 400,000 man force was ordered to evacuate across the English Channel. Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Dunkirk, lasted from May 26-Jun.4.
The Germans stopped their pursuit, but kept them surrounded and hit them from the air as Britain desperately attempted to evacuate the men with its Royal Navy. Unwilling to fully commit the navy, Britain enlisted/drafted civilian vessels and using this flotilla of small craft in addition to its own vessels pulled off the “Miracle of Dunkirk” in which 338,000 soldiers were rescued from France. This is a far cry from the 30,000 they believed would be possible before the Germans attacked and over ran them.
The film isn’t an attempt to tell the whole chronological story of the evacuation, but rather is seeing it through the eyes of several soldiers, civilians and airmen with vastly different perspectives on the events unfolding around them.
It captures the endless tension and unease of the situation and the film hinges on these feelings. Nothing is certain, who lives or dies, what will happen next. There’s no victory or glory, just survival.
The tension never lets up throughout the film and this is due in part to its unusual structure, eschewing the traditional three-acts for three overlapping timelines told from three points of view. These three time lines take place over a week (ground troops), a day (civilian vessel) and an hour (Spitfires). It makes sense in action. In that regard it also feels less like a big-budget war movie and more like an art film given a big budget.
Since this is the story of an evacuation and not a full-on battle, action is sparse and lacks the usual drama of a war film, but that doesn’t mean it lacks in terror. Air attacks on ships and men on the beaches, here a single bomber crew can send hundreds running for non-existent cover or a ship of men to watery graves with near total impunity.
The air battles are also small scale, with a trio of Spitfires, measuring time in fuel remaining, fighting small groups of German fighters and bombers with short bursts of fire and, compared to the dramatic cutting for enhanced action seen in most war films, lumbering and slow movements like when real aircraft fight and have to line up their shots in a wide turn that feels like it takes forever.
Photo by Courtesy of Warner Bros. Picture – © 2016 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Ratpac-Dune Entertainment LLC and Ratpac Entertainment, LLC (imdb.com)
When German ground forces open fire they’re never seen but they’re felt, a touch which strengthens the tension, fear and realism. The theater I was in had a quality surround sound set up that had me jumping at sudden explosions and unexpected gunshots.
It was said in Nolan’s Batman Begins that it’s not who you are but what you do that defines you, but it is just as true here. Dialogue is sparse and characters may as well be named Private, Officer and Pilot. Except for Mr. Dawson, the civilian boat owner, you don’t get a sense of who they are as individuals but rather as snapshots of what they are in this critical timeframe. Following their actions and exploits, what they do makes you care about them even though you have no idea who these people.
For the nerdy details, the naval vessels in the film are real. They are 1950s vintage French and Dutch museum ships with outlines similar to those of World War II-era destroyers and minesweepers. The biggest distraction on them where the enclosed 5” guns that didn’t exist in 1940.
The aircraft are also mostly authentic. They used three real Spitfires according to Warbirds News and a Spanish Hispano Buchon, which is essentially a licensed copy of the Me-109. The other German aircraft were RC models because there are no flying examples in existence.
It’s a quick scene and no attention is called to them, but another part worth mentioning was the inclusion of African colonial soldiers in the French ranks. France, like Britain, drew manpower from across its empire and used African troops in their defense.
Making this film was a gamble and a passion project that I’m happy Nolan was given $150 million to act on. Dunkirk is an important event, but isn’t as well known outside of the involved nations. Making a film like this and hoping for a big payoff outside of the UK and Western Europe would be like making a film about Antietam and deciding your primary audience is the UK. (That said, there are a surprising number of U.S. Civil War reenactors in the UK. By surprising I mean there are any at all.)
Though doubtful, I hope this opens the door for more films focused on events like Dunkirk that can bring these stories to wider audiences and hopefully kindle an interest in learning about the subject.
Photo by Courtesy of Warner Bros. Picture – © 2016 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., Village Roadshow Films North America Inc. and RatPac-Dune Entertainment LLC (imdb.com)