Dunkirk (forthcoming in 2017)

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by townsend, Aug 6, 2016.

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  1. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    I think from a young persons perspective, under 25 .,there will be some empathy for the film.
     
  2. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    Watched a blu-ray last night. Yes, there probably should have had a drone-style sweep of the beach and channel to give a sense of the scale of the event. And I usually hate drone sweeps!

    My biggest complaint was that it was a relatively bloodless account. A bomb would drop on the beach and soldiers would be killed or left unharmed, when it would seem there would be plenty of wounded afterwards.
     
  3. gary191265

    gary191265 Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Easily the best film I've seen all year!

    I think people misunderstood what the film was, or took their preconceptions of what they wanted it to be, into cinemas with them.

    I, almost literally, spent the entire length of the film holding my breath, and my wife said the same thing, with no prompting from me whatsoever.

    There were at least 6 people throughout the film's narrative that I 'cared' about, and that's with virtually no character development or a reason to care, other than basic human nature.
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2018
  4. fishcane

    fishcane Dirt Farmer

    Location:
    Finger Lakes,NY
    I thought it was a great film. My favorite since Hell or High Water
     
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  5. rjp

    rjp Senior Member

    Location:
    Ohio
    i probably read and heard too much about 'dunkirk' and thus my expectations were through the roof.

    i found it to be a very good film, but not the majestic blockbuster that it has been made out to be.
     
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  6. Geithals

    Geithals Forum Resident

    Location:
    Reykjavik
    I missed the cinema viewing and only viewed it the other day at home. I thought it was exceptional from start to finish. Overall, a wonderful gripping, multi faceted, intense experience.
    My only gripe, albeit a serious gripe, was that the storytelling was too rushed. All of sudden the queues had disappeared and the film was over, a fat man singing about "never surrender" thrown in for a good measure of finality. I could easy have watched this epic for another hour, I felt shortchanged. 'twas but a mini epic :)
     
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  7. wwaldmanfan

    wwaldmanfan Born In The 50's

    Location:
    NJ
    I can't take any war film seriously when all the actors are clean-shaven w/neat sideburn and no stubble in every scene.
     
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  8. Heavy Music

    Heavy Music Forum Resident

    But that's "Hollywood!" :frog:

    I feel the same way, but sometimes one just has to (try) look the other way about details that don't make sense so you can enjoy a good film.
    But, I understand that sometimes strong inaccuracies can ruin an otherwise great movie, like crappy endings!
     
  9. Dayfold

    Dayfold Forum Resident

    Search for historic images of troops at Dunkirk and you see plenty of clean shaven soldiers. I imagine it's because many are so young that they'd barely started growing bumfluff, but also because shaving regularly in even difficult circumstances was a matter of discipline. Look at the young lads in these images from the Dunkirk rescue:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    More at this link: Dunkirk evacuation: Photos of 1940 rescue of Allied troops from beaches of northern France
     
  10. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    I watched it a couple of days ago with my family and we all thought it was a fine movie. I must admit I was a little puzzled at first with the lack of planes, ships, and men on the beaches, but it came to me that the movie wasn't supposed to be some grand scale epic war movie. Instead, it went for more of a scaled down version and, in a sense, was served better by that because the storyline was easier to follow and not as confusing as some larger than life movies with multi-faceted plot lines, cuts, and whatever else. Even so, my wife and daughter had trouble keeping track of what was going on with the pilots, the boats, and who was who so I had to keep explaining things to them even though, myself, had not seen it before.

    I thought it was quite well done and captured the spirit of the battle even if it didn't represent it in full scale. It was still a gripping, intense movie that accurately (I assume) depicted the evacuation and the sacrifice that was made by the English citizens to help get their soldiers back home. Dunkirk has always been a fascinating topic for me as I love reading about World War II. I think Nolan did an excellent job.
     
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  11. mindblanking

    mindblanking The Bourbon King

    Location:
    Baltimore, MD
    This is exactly right! Watched it last night at home. What an incredibly moving film. So much more than a "war movie." A meditation on survival, perseverance, hope and fate.
     
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  12. Gasman1003

    Gasman1003 Forum Diplomat.

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    British Army Discipline.
     
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  13. mindblanking

    mindblanking The Bourbon King

    Location:
    Baltimore, MD
    I know some people are comparing this to Saving Private Ryan. To me Dunkirk is a work of thought provoking, emotionally intense art, Saving Private Ryan is a war movie. Both have their place.
     
  14. Rachael Bee

    Rachael Bee Miembra muy loca

    I was reading up on Dunkirk after seeing the movie. I thought there were too few planes in the movie. I was surprised that what was portrayed in the movie was somewhat appropriate. The men on the beach were dismayed at what they thought was a lack of air cover. They didn't see that many RAF planes. However, so much of the air battle was taking place at high altitude and a bit east, that they couldn't see it. The handful of digital Stuka Bombers in the movie is probably about right. They were so easy to shoot down that the 3, or was it 4, would be about how many in a large flight might get through....???

    I still think the movie should of portrayed heavier shelling on the beach....
     
  15. Rachael Bee

    Rachael Bee Miembra muy loca

    ....oh, and I also saw the excellent PBS show about Dunkirk that ran this winter....
     
  16. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Just watched Dunkirk ( 2 DVD) again (first time in the cinema)have to say it was a bit better the second time. Highlight: Hans Zimmer score.
     
  17. GregM

    GregM The expanding man

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    Nolan is very gifted and probably the only director who can take control of such big sets, open seas, plane battles and expanded crowds, and still have such an intimate feel that touches on universal themes. People mention this in the same breath as SPR, but I think this was the more serious film. When I watch Spielberg now, it just seems so manipulative of the audience's emotions. I don't feel that way after watching Nolan's films. It's a more honest depiction that cuts into the authenticity of the story, if not in the details then in the feel of it. Nolan has a natural understanding of morality and humanity that informs his work.
     
  18. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    I just watched last night at home for the first time, and admit that I found the time shifts a bit confusing, but they worked: the balancing act among the soldiers at the edge of land, being pushed into the sea, the wonderful portrayal by Mark Rylance of the older Brit taking his boat to sea as part of the rescue and the time at a standstill pace of Tom Hardy's air battles. Not linear, but the overall effect was powerful and lasting. Time well spent. Cillian Murphy continues to impress.
     
  19. Maccaroni

    Maccaroni Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    I watched it for a second time last night - first time was in IMAX, which was spectacular, bit I enjoyed picking the "crossovers" in the time shifts (i.e. events in the sea section being seen from the air etc) .
     
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  20. Alien Reg

    Alien Reg Forum Resident

    Good film. Interesting complement to the old 50s Dunkirk film.

    I love it that this film debuted in the summer, the season of family fodder. Hopefully some who grew up on computer games and think that war is cool saw this.
     
  21. oates

    oates Forum Resident

    The whole reason for the Dunkirk evacuation was to enable a policy for British troops to be able to defend the UK from invasion, not France.
     
  22. longdist01

    longdist01 Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    Highly recommend watching 2018 film

    SPITFIRE
    The Plane That Saved The World

     
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  23. carrick doone

    carrick doone Whhhuuuutttt????

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    I watched this for the second time after listening to an episode of the podcast "The Rewatchables" with the hosts and Quentin Tarantino as guest. Quentin thinks it is an amazing film. I honestly thought it was a nice small film but listening to Quentin's and the hosts thoughts had me rethinking it from a purely visual storytelling cinematic view. So I watched it again and they are right. It is a movie within the scale of a massive undertaking which is also nestled in the massive event of WWII. This second viewing I marvelled at the intercutting of timelines happen where the first time I only appreciated it. I appreciated the balance of small stories within a large canvas. There is also the true English approach to war films that he makes a nod to - that plucky, reserved, stiff upper lip view to devastation.

    What Quentin expressed was an appreciation for the pure telling of events through film and knitting them together in a unique visual style.

    I am a fan of Christopher Nolan and I didn't appreciate this film the first time. Now I see it is Nolan's great film and it defines his style and ability.
     
    Dayfold likes this.
  24. Monosterio

    Monosterio Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Florida
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