Dunkirk 2017

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After doing more research, I think I will watch it this week.  According to many opinions, the boring trailer doesn't do the film justice.  

 

Also, the Luftwaffe and German troops are depicted as little as possible (a stylistic choice).  

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I saw the movie over the weekend.   The movie is all activity and action with limited dialogue.  It's basically a series of crises and disasters strung together.  The director focuses on the traumatic experiences of the men involved and how they confront them.   It's very impressive, unique, and overwhelming but not really a historical film.   Dunkirk is just a convenient setting.  The film succeeds in creating a high level of tension and fear.

 

The Germans in the film are barely visible boogymen/monsters.  A couple HE-111 medium bombers and numerous, scattered ME-109 fighters and Stuka dive bombers.   There is an invisible U-boat that torpedos ships.  

 

This film is a 5 out of 5 movie.  My personal enjoyment of the film was more like 4 out of 5.  The film has almost no character development and focuses entirely on POV of different individuals/groups  (1. A solitary Ace Spitfire pilot.  2. A foot soldier on route to Britain 3. A civilian boat that is ordered to help transport personnel  4. A british evacuation commander).  The talents of the big name British actors are kind of wasted in a way.  

 

As a technical achievement it is a 5 out of 5 and imho will be a Best Picture contender and will win a bunch of other rewards.   It has very little CGI that is obvious and the trailers don't do the film justice as it omits lots of poignant imagery.   It's a very stimulating visual and auditory experience so it really should be seen in theaters.  I would need to watch it a second time to catch everything that I missed.

 

The ships, aircraft, and equipment depicted in the film appear to be entirely real.  The props are particularly good and so are the vistas.  I especially like how the British soldiers were all skinny men (typical of the 1940s).  A minor limitation however, is that since Nolan used real props he was limited in how much he could depict at once. (eg. it doesn't make sense that there are only 3 Spitfires in the whole film, or how the Luftwaffe anti-shipping sorties are in trios(  1 HE-111 with 2 ME-109 as escorts).  But this filed using the real thing!  

 

I like how he used real British destroyers and flipped them over at sea.  The takes of what happens to the men inside of a ship that's being torpedoed is particularly impressive and surpasses what was achieved before (in films like Pearl Harbor or Das Boot).  

 

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On 7/18/2017 at 4:40 PM, jj3 said:

 

But +1000, Dunkirk ... pfffff ! 

 

I didn't watch the movie, but i hope they didn't forget to talk about the huge sacrifice of the troops of the french general Fagalde, who made that possible, Dynamo was possible only thanks to them. 

 

In the actual movie, the French are present manning the perimeter (backstage photos of people in French uniforms) but the rest of the story is a British one.  Per my review/viewing though, I didn't think that it was intended to be a historical movie.

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The aircraft and shipping losses

 

According to Osprey booklet, Operation Dynamo:

 

Quote

While successful, Dynamo was a costly operation, especially for the naval

forces. By the time it ended at 1423hrs on 4 June the Allies had lost 240
vessels with another 45 badly damaged. Most grievous of course were Royal
Navy and French destroyer losses. Six British and three French warships of
this category were sunk and 26 damaged.

 
For the RAF Dynamo was an expensive learning experience. A close
examination of Luftwaffe loss reports and unit operational records reveals
that British fighters destroyed 42 bombers and 36 fighters over Dunkirk.
(Additionally, four Stukas and two Ju 88s are known to have fallen to ships’
anti-aircraft fire.) In return Air Vice-Marshal Park’s 11 Group lost 84 fighters
to Messerschmitts and bombers’ defensive fire, thus costing more than one
fighter for each enemy aircraft downed. Fighter Command’s front-line strength
was reduced to only 331 Spitfires and Hurricanes with 36 in reserve.

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I heard someone compare the movie to Sicario today. Specifically, the approx. 20 minute scene when they go across the border to get the guy and bring him back. The comparison talked about the intensity of the scene combined with the lack of dialogue. Some similarities, I guess.

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I should see  Herzog's Sicario.  I had a copy a very long time ago and lost it.