My wife and I went to the cinema tonight to see the movie Dunkirk. It was the first time in quite a while that we saw a film where the theater was almost full. Yes it was a Friday night but some reviews were calling Dunkirk the best movie of the year.
I've probably only seen three new films this year, and I'm very picky on the movies that we go to see, so I can't give an opinion of the best movie of the year. Others have called Dunkirk the best war movie ever. That's an odd phrase when you think about it....those two words don't go together well...best war.
Dunkirk followed three story lines and switched back and forth frequently so you never had a chance to get bogged down in any one of them. One story line focused on a single citizen rescue boat and its crew of an older man and two young boys. The second followed a small group of soldiers as they tried their best to get off the beach, and the third story line took place in the air as two RAF fighter pilots attacked German bombers that were targeting the rescue ships.
I would give Dunkirk this...it's cinematic adaptation of ships under attack was extraordinarily vivid. My father was on a troop transport returning from the Pacific theater in World War II when his ship was hit by a kamikaze strike. He suffered burns over much of his body while his friend died next to him on the deck. I now have a better realization of what he had to go through.....it was sobering beyond what I previously imagined....and it may have directed most of my attention to this aspect of the film.
I thought that the portrayal of the rescue itself in the film, of most of the army, was anti-climatic. It happened quickly...almost as an afterthought....the essence of what the director was trying to impart to us the viewers had apparently already been accomplished. This wasn't a movie that brought cheers at the end. It did not play on patriotism or heroism. There was a patriotic message and there was heroism but the director chose to emphasize the human element in and around carnage and chaos. I cannot even recall the musical score. I do have to wonder what the British will think of the film...and the Scots....who were represented in important scenes...or the French who were pretty much ignored. I also marvel at how God directed the Germans to stop their advance on Dunkirk....not alluded to in the film obviously but known to us who know that God determines the course of all events....giving the allies time to evacuate most of their soldiers.
What a contrast there is between a film like Dunkirk and Black Hawk Down. Both depicted the chaos and carnage of war....both were built around rescues....but Dunkirk made very few direct attempts to stimulate the emotions other than presenting what happened in May and early June of 1940, whereas Black Hawk Down was gut-wrenching by design. Dunkirk the film may be reflective of the chaos and carnage in our society and culture today. It was made for today's audience. Black Hawk Down was released shortly after 9/11. Today's audience might very well say that we need cold hard facts so that we stay out of wars. Black Hawk Down's audience...of which I was a part of....would more likely have said....There is evil and there is good and there is war....may God help us defeat evil when war is thrust upon us.
I've probably only seen three new films this year, and I'm very picky on the movies that we go to see, so I can't give an opinion of the best movie of the year. Others have called Dunkirk the best war movie ever. That's an odd phrase when you think about it....those two words don't go together well...best war.
Dunkirk followed three story lines and switched back and forth frequently so you never had a chance to get bogged down in any one of them. One story line focused on a single citizen rescue boat and its crew of an older man and two young boys. The second followed a small group of soldiers as they tried their best to get off the beach, and the third story line took place in the air as two RAF fighter pilots attacked German bombers that were targeting the rescue ships.
I would give Dunkirk this...it's cinematic adaptation of ships under attack was extraordinarily vivid. My father was on a troop transport returning from the Pacific theater in World War II when his ship was hit by a kamikaze strike. He suffered burns over much of his body while his friend died next to him on the deck. I now have a better realization of what he had to go through.....it was sobering beyond what I previously imagined....and it may have directed most of my attention to this aspect of the film.
I thought that the portrayal of the rescue itself in the film, of most of the army, was anti-climatic. It happened quickly...almost as an afterthought....the essence of what the director was trying to impart to us the viewers had apparently already been accomplished. This wasn't a movie that brought cheers at the end. It did not play on patriotism or heroism. There was a patriotic message and there was heroism but the director chose to emphasize the human element in and around carnage and chaos. I cannot even recall the musical score. I do have to wonder what the British will think of the film...and the Scots....who were represented in important scenes...or the French who were pretty much ignored. I also marvel at how God directed the Germans to stop their advance on Dunkirk....not alluded to in the film obviously but known to us who know that God determines the course of all events....giving the allies time to evacuate most of their soldiers.
What a contrast there is between a film like Dunkirk and Black Hawk Down. Both depicted the chaos and carnage of war....both were built around rescues....but Dunkirk made very few direct attempts to stimulate the emotions other than presenting what happened in May and early June of 1940, whereas Black Hawk Down was gut-wrenching by design. Dunkirk the film may be reflective of the chaos and carnage in our society and culture today. It was made for today's audience. Black Hawk Down was released shortly after 9/11. Today's audience might very well say that we need cold hard facts so that we stay out of wars. Black Hawk Down's audience...of which I was a part of....would more likely have said....There is evil and there is good and there is war....may God help us defeat evil when war is thrust upon us.
