Analyse the historical accuracy of the Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk
Many historians consider the evacuation of Dunkirk a turning point in the war - if it had not been successful, it is believed the allied forces would not have been able to withstand the enemy for much longer. This had then become the biggest military evacuation in history which prompted Christopher Nolan to create a film based on the facts given. He created a historically accurate film with minor inaccuracies that depict the events that happened on the French coast in 1940.
Christopher Nolan released Dunkirk with the intention of creating a historically accurate film that outlines one of history's most significant military evacuations. The movie is told from three different …show more content…
With nowhere to hide, they were left defenceless as the German planes were shooting from above. By May 26, 1940 the Germans had forced French, British and Belgian troops to the port of Dunkirk, isolating them on the beaches. Initially it was estimated that just 45,000 men could be evacuated in 48 hours. Instead the operation was to become the biggest evacuation in military history. Christopher Nolan expresses this throughout the film by portraying thousands of soldiers in multiple lines, acknowledging that Winston Churchill wanted 30,000 men back home and Ramsay wanted to give him 45,000 and with the use of German propaganda posters with arrows pointing to Dunkirk and the surrounding regions with the text ‘We surround you.’ This signifies how the enemy had pushed the soldiers to the French coast. Although the allied soldiers had been pushed to the coast the evacuation would not have been possible if Hitler didn’t bring his Panzer tanks to a halt, this was mentioned within the film as a dialogue sequence, “Why waste precious tanks when they can pick us off from the air like fish in a …show more content…
Although within the film it is demonstrated that the hundreds of civilian vessels were an extremely vital factor which in reality the boats were vital but not in the outsized role the film portrays. The small vessels were predominantly used to transport soldiers to the Destroyers and Minesweepers. The film exaggerates their role while downplaying the British Navy, when in fact the private vessels had been commandeered by naval crews. Also, within the film it becomes evident that Britain and the Navy weren’t sending many Minesweepers or Destroyers as hoped to Dunkirk and that England were saving them for when war hopped across the Channel. Though this was the case in the film and in reality, many Destroyers and Minesweepers contributed in the real evacuation. Although the movie only depicts a few ships docking in at Dunkirk, this then provided the audience a reason to believe the civilian vessels played an extremely bigger part in the evacuation then they did in
Many historians consider the evacuation of Dunkirk a turning point in the war - if it had not been successful, it is believed the allied forces would not have been able to withstand the enemy for much longer. This had then become the biggest military evacuation in history which prompted Christopher Nolan to create a film based on the facts given. He created a historically accurate film with minor inaccuracies that depict the events that happened on the French coast in 1940.
Christopher Nolan released Dunkirk with the intention of creating a historically accurate film that outlines one of history's most significant military evacuations. The movie is told from three different …show more content…
With nowhere to hide, they were left defenceless as the German planes were shooting from above. By May 26, 1940 the Germans had forced French, British and Belgian troops to the port of Dunkirk, isolating them on the beaches. Initially it was estimated that just 45,000 men could be evacuated in 48 hours. Instead the operation was to become the biggest evacuation in military history. Christopher Nolan expresses this throughout the film by portraying thousands of soldiers in multiple lines, acknowledging that Winston Churchill wanted 30,000 men back home and Ramsay wanted to give him 45,000 and with the use of German propaganda posters with arrows pointing to Dunkirk and the surrounding regions with the text ‘We surround you.’ This signifies how the enemy had pushed the soldiers to the French coast. Although the allied soldiers had been pushed to the coast the evacuation would not have been possible if Hitler didn’t bring his Panzer tanks to a halt, this was mentioned within the film as a dialogue sequence, “Why waste precious tanks when they can pick us off from the air like fish in a …show more content…
Although within the film it is demonstrated that the hundreds of civilian vessels were an extremely vital factor which in reality the boats were vital but not in the outsized role the film portrays. The small vessels were predominantly used to transport soldiers to the Destroyers and Minesweepers. The film exaggerates their role while downplaying the British Navy, when in fact the private vessels had been commandeered by naval crews. Also, within the film it becomes evident that Britain and the Navy weren’t sending many Minesweepers or Destroyers as hoped to Dunkirk and that England were saving them for when war hopped across the Channel. Though this was the case in the film and in reality, many Destroyers and Minesweepers contributed in the real evacuation. Although the movie only depicts a few ships docking in at Dunkirk, this then provided the audience a reason to believe the civilian vessels played an extremely bigger part in the evacuation then they did in