Dunkirk - Spoiler Alert - Do Not Read If You Have Not Seen The Film

I put out a call on Facebook to any friends that may have been in Manchester to ask whether they would like to go and see Dunkirk.  A wit replied, "Are you going by ferry or Eurostar?"  My response to this was, "No, by small pleasure boat".  I had been eagerly awaiting the release of Christopher Nolan's film and, when no one answered my call, I took it upon myself to go alone.

It is difficult to know where to start with this, perspective is everything and an individual watching the movie will judge it from their own level of knowledge, experience and understanding.

The film lacks context, it is rather focussed on a group of individuals and their role in evacuation.  The scene is set initially, when a group of British soldiers are seen walking through a deserted street and read leaflets dropped from the sky outlining the position they are in.  The simple image is of a map with Dunkirk and the menacing red of the German army surrounding the remaining allies.  Okay so we now know that we are surrounded.  There is no lead up, explanation or context.  You do not get a taste of the Phoney War, the frantic and unsuccessful fight to stop the Blitzkrieg advance of the German armour and the atrocities that are committed by troops and aircraft against the civilian population and prisoners of war.  The context is further enhanced by the scene between Commander Bolton and Colonel Winnant on the Mole, Bolton states that they aim to get 30-40 thousand off the beach and Winnant replies that there are 400,000 on the beach.  We have the scale and so we then turn to the story.

The audience will experience different feelings depending upon the attributes of their perspective.  I know the history, what happens, the context and so I understood from the outset.  I have also studied military history, I am ex-Royal Navy and therefore I have a view on the action that was to follow.  I did, however, put the situation into a more modern political and economic perspective as I was viewing.

The group of British soldiers came under fire and in sheer desperation and panic fled from an unseen enemy.  The gunfire and ruthlessness of the slaughter hit home and, as the last survivor of the group ran, he came across the sandbag walled defences manned by French soldiers.  Initially he came under fire from the defenders but was soon recognised and allowed over the barrier, the look of disgust from the French soldiers as the British soldier cowered and ran for his life brought thoughts of Brexit to mind.  The context of the British sacrifice, both on the ground and in the air was missing.  Our investment in the fight to that point and onwards was not recognised by the film.  On he ran, to the beach and was met with the sight of queues of soldiers patiently waiting to evacuate.

One of the striking things about the film is it's gritty reality, fear and shock.  The scenes that follow are desperate, in fact one could argue that the desperation is playing to the fear that the men will not make it, it is utterly hopeless and each attempt is almost fruitless.  We see the loss of ships and aircraft, the killing of men but no real success and no scale of the numbers being evacuated.  It is definitely not gory and in the same stomach churning league as Saving Private Ryan or The Fury.  But then it does not need any of that to convey the depth of feeling and struggle of the situation.

There is a refreshing lack of GCI and the ships and aircraft seem frighteningly real, the feeling of being trapped and about to drown is gripping, even to the point where you are desperate for breath as you sit in your seat.

There is a determination against what can be regarded as common sense and self preservation and perhaps this is another reference to Brexit.  The determination to fight through and survive is evident.

During the many, and perhaps over-compensating, air battles, it is clear that shooting down an aircraft is not easy and takes patience and skill to do.  You can almost feel the learning experience of the fighter pilots as they try and shoot the enemy down.  The RAF were not particularly visible during the evacuation and this does not come through as strongly as it was felt by the men on the ground.  It is interesting to note that one of the three Spitfires in the formation is shot down without much fuss.  Some in the audience would not have realised that this was a common tactic of the German air force against a rather flawed choice of formation by the RAF.  Many German Aces scored easy kills this way and we do not even get a chance to see the doomed pilot in any sense.

We do not see or hear from any Germans, but you feel the presence of these anonymous aggressors and the shocking impact of their bullets and bombs.  In fact you only really see some Germans up close in the very final scene but no context again and no opportunity to understand their point of view.

The film is very patriotic and comes to a close as the remaining Spitfire runs out of fuel, having elected to shoot down an enemy Stuka dive bomber rather than turn for home.  You can feel the pilots dilemma about whether to stay and fight or to head home to re-arm.  Again, maybe a PR exercise on behalf of the RAF or an attempt to show that it was a difficult decision to make.  The aircraft then proceeds to glide majestically above the beach, the pilot desperately cranking the landing gear down before he runs out of height.  He does manage to bring the machine down, well away from friendly forces and then proceeds to burn it and watches as it goes.  This is the first time we see the pilot's face (Tom Hardy). Is this our history we burn, our links to Europe, our last hope?  There are many perspectives that can be taken from this, act as the stirring version of Engima Variations and Nimrod play to the excerpts of Winston Churchill's famous 'Fight them on the Beaches' speech being read out.

What is not so clear is that although we have run, we will return and we can stand alone against the threat facing us and we do so in the name of freedom and what is right.  Very stirring, but in my mind reflections of Brexit again came to mind.

When the film ended I waited until the end of the credits before I left.  I left in a deep mood of reflection and with very strong views, determined to write this blog.

I felt so strongly that when I spoke to my wife later on, I got quite annoyed about some of the comments.  I tried to highlight that different people will view this movie through different lenses and the lack of context will skew their point of view.  People will champion their cause by drawing similarities between the situation in 1940 and the present.  "Gunning down of survivors and queueing soldiers just happens in war" was one such comment that drew fire from me.  No it doesn't or rather it shouldn't.  "The war had just started", no it hadn't there was months of inaction preceding it.  I also pointed out that history in UK schools is optional after a point, An was shocked.  Some will have no idea at all and have to rely on grandparents and parents (if they know) to educate them.

The evacuation of Dunkirk was a miracle but because of the inexplicable inaction of the Germans to finish the job.  This gifted Churchill the propaganda coup to salvage some dignity from the disaster.  Worse was to come when the Japanese achieved a far more complete victory in Singapore in 1942.

You can of course just watch the movie for it's entertainment value.