The Suspense of “Dunkirk”
By Jill Teitelbaum
Grade for “Dunkirk”: A-
Dunkirk is a dramatic portrayal of the Allied evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940 that glorifies the British efforts while snubbing those of the French and colonial troops. The director, Christopher Nolan, successfully uses music and temporal sequences to create suspense and time sensitivity as well as introduce the various characters before they all converge in the end.
The opening title card sets the scene and introduces the high stakes, “The enemy have driven the British and French armies to the sea. Trapped at Dunkirk, they await their fate. Hoping for deliverance. For a miracle.” There are 400,000 men awaiting rescue. The rescue effort is hindered by bombing from German planes. In one particularly jarring scene, a medical ship is sunk at the mole with countless wounded men aboard. In addition to the threat from overheard, the Nazis are closing in from the land. Captain Winnant warns that, “They’re breaking through the dunes to the east. This is it.” This dialogue is one example of the emphasis on timing.
Nolan uses three temporal sequences to drive the plot: the mole, the sea and the air. The audience is told that they last one week, one day and one hour, respectively. Throughout the movie, the stories from each sequence begin to interweave. For example, an early dogfight results in a pilot, Collins, attempting a water landing. We later see the same landing from the perspective of the Dawsons aboard their private boat. After the Navy began requisitioning civilian boats, the Dawsons, along with their young friend, George, head to Dunkirk to help rescue men themselves. They rescue Collins in the nick of time as he was drowning while trapped inside his cockpit. This also shows how the overlapping stories are crucial to establishing the time sensitivity.
Towards the end of the movie, when the fate of the men at Dunkirk seems sealed, Commander Bolton notices all of the civilian British boats appear on the horizon. This is one of the most heartwarming scenes in the movie and it also highlights the Britishness of it. The small ships have Union Jacks and plainly clothed Brits of all ages. The Commander excitedly greets many of them and asks which towns they’re from.
Despite the combined military and civilian efforts, thousands of men do not survive. Many drown aboard ships sunk by German bombs or torpedoes. Others burn alive while caught in oil slicks on the water. Several of the characters, including the main protagonist Tommy, and the first man that the Dawsons rescue, the shivering soldier, endure multiple failed attempts to escape Dunkirk. They witness one tragedy after another before finally making it home in the end.
Overall, this movie powerfully illustrates the stories of a handful of the hundreds of thousands of British who were at Dunkirk and how they relied on all of the efforts on land, sea and air to survive. Although it neglects to recognize the French and colonial efforts, it highlights the time sensitivity, tragedies and heroism of the operation which affected everyone at Dunkirk.
Jill Teitelbaum is a senior majoring in Marketing with a minor in History.