Finally Saw "Dunkirk" This Week

[HHP]

"Dunkirk" showed up On Demand this week and I finally watched it. Very good movie but the editing drove me nuts. They jump back and forth between three storylines moving on three different timelines. They cut from the Dunkirk beaches at night back to a scene on the water in bright sunlight and back again. Do this continually with three interwoven story lines.

Strangely, of the three story lines, the one centered around the actual Dunkirk beaches seemed the least interesting. My favorite, not surprisingly, was the one following Tom Hardy as a Spitfire pilot. Spitfires were out of date when I was born and I don't feel the same about modern fighters. The scene where he is gliding parallel to the beach with the prop feathered is classic.

Best acting performance in the film was clearly Mark Rylance. He has this way of doing almost nothing but conveying great courage, intelligence, and competence in his characters. Tom Hardy does much the same but conveys great menace in his.

Worth seeing but be prepared to take notes to keep up.

[Jim Owen]

Hi Harry,
It’s post-modern, for sure. It took me a while to figure out that the time wasn’t linear. I want to see it again.

Rylance is stellar. I saw him twice at the Globe, and he’s captivating on stage, too.

My favorite scene was Hardy’s glide.

[AX17609]

Originally Posted by HHP

Best acting performance in the film was clearly Mark Rylance. He has this way of doing almost nothing but conveying great courage, intelligence, and competence in his characters.

I became a Mark Rylance fan while watching the "Wolf Hall" series. He expresses more by seemingly doing nothing than any actor I've ever seen.

[Swamp Yankee]

Originally Posted by HHP

Spitfires were out of date when I was born and I don't feel the same about modern fighters.

No mystery there. Few planes have ever been as AWESOME as the Supermarine Spitfire. It is known.

[bmoney]

absolutely loved this movie...havent experienced that much tension over an entire movie in a long time. LOVE that there was no FLUFF and backstory

[Swamp Yankee]

Originally Posted by HHP

Very good movie but the editing drove me nuts. They jump back and forth between three storylines moving on three different timelines.

Speaking about movies featuring both Dunkirk and confusing timelines.. have you seen Atonement?

[HHP]

My favorite WWII movie remains "Dark Blue World" about a squadron of Czech pilots in the Battle of Britain.

[Reasley]

I take a group of Baylor University students to Western Europe every summer to visit companies and, last year, for the first time, we did a D Day tour on the Normandy beaches.

On the way over there from Paris, we watched the *first* thirty minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" on the coach for the last thirty minutes of our drive. When we stopped the film, I asked my colleague: "Can you please talk to the students about "survivor's guilt" because I know that I will not be able to do it without crying." He said "Sure," and promptly began crying himself as he started to talk about it. I cannot imagine being a part of the D Day landing and watching your fellow soldiers being mowed down like grass, only to survivie yourself when all was said and done. Talk about an eternal internal conflict with the question "Why?"

If any list members ever do a tour of the Normandy beaches, it is imperative that you get Francois Gauthron as your guide. www.europebattlefieldstours.com There is no better guide in the world in any venue. This man is AMAZING. I don't care what question was asked during our day with him, the answer was INSTANT, well-thought-out, and most informative.

This is a completely unsolicited endorsement, given freely and without compensation of any kind. On my trips to Europe, I have had guides in Rome, Florence, Paris, and London and not one can "hold a candle" to this man. He is light years ahead of anyone that I have ever seen that guides tours. As you can tell, I am still in awe of that day and it has been six months now since he guided us. I look forward to having him guide us again next year and every year subsequently after.

The American cemetery over there is the most humbling experience that an American can have. Every tombstone from every direction is in perfect alignment. Reflecting on the freedoms that we have as a country has never been more crystal clear than the visit to that cemetery and the sacrifices that were made by many for us on that fateful day that changed world history.

Every American should have the opportunity to visit the D Day beaches.

Apologies for the lengthy post but this thread touched a very sentimental part of me this afternoon. And, this message is in no way intended to minimize the great sacrifices made by those from other countries during WWII.

[ThermiteTermite]

Originally Posted by Swamp Yankee

No mystery there. Few planes have ever been as AWESOME as the Supermarine Spitfire. It is known.

Performance wise, about on par with the ME 109 of that time.

Beauty wise, no equal.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by Swamp Yankee

No mystery there. Few planes have ever been as AWESOME as the Supermarine Spitfire. It is known.

That's a beautiful Mk.IX, wearing the markings of 222 Squadron (Natal). We've got a Mk.IX Spit living down the road from us. My uncle flew Spits during WWII.

Bob

[veryzer]

Originally Posted by Jim Owen

Hi Harry,
It’s post-modern, for sure. It took me a while to figure out that the time wasn’t linear. I want to see it again.

Rylance is stellar. I saw him twice at the Globe, and he’s captivating on stage, too.

My favorite scene was Hardy’s glide.

Jim, I doubt this will derail the thread, so what did you see Rylance perform at the Globe? I have my kids compare his and Branagh's Crispin's Day speech.

Btw, I loved the glide too even if its duration and the shooting down a German plane required a willing suspension of disbelief.

[Brucebubs]

I liked the time shifts and their connection points, it worked for me.

I scratched my head in one of the final scenes with the guys on a train back in England, the seat trim looked modern and the windows were aluminum frames.



I remember the older 'Red-Rattler' model suburban line trains in Melbourne in the 1970's with the push down wooden framed windows and plain seat trim.



p.s. The final shot of the Spitfire burning on the beach clearly has no engine - I didn't expect them to burn a real one, heck no, but a more subtle camera angle may have made it less obvious.

[Jim Owen]

Originally Posted by veryzer

Jim, I doubt this will derail the thread, so what did you see Rylance perform at the Globe? I have my kids compare his and Branagh's Crispin's Day speech.



Btw, I loved the glide too even if it's duration and the shooting down a German plane required a willing suspension of disbelief.

Hi Veryzer,

I’m thinking it was the early 2000s. He was Olivia in a fine 12th Night. Later around 2006 he was the Duke in Measure for Measure.

Cool assignment. I wish I’d seen him as Henry.

Peace,
Jimmy

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by Swamp Yankee

No mystery there. Few planes have ever been as AWESOME as the Supermarine Spitfire. It is known.

I plan to fly in a two seater Spitfire next year. It will be my 70th, and they fly from a former ww2 fighter airfield about two miles from our house.

The Spitfire was surely the most beautiful fighter of the period, but the Hawker Hurricane was also extremely important. I believe that during the Battle of Britain the spitfires concentrated on downing the German fighters whilst the Hurricanes attacked the bombers.

There was a common myth that the BEF and French soldiers trapped on the beaches were not defended by the RAF, which is largely due to the fact that most of their aerial actions were on the advancing German military and against the German fighters advancing to strafe the beaches, and protecting the ships in the channel.

I have from time to time wondered how the Luftwaffe pilots felt about firing on an bombing the trapped troops.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

I plan to fly in a two seater Spitfire next year. It will be my 70th, and they fly from a former ww2 fighter airfield about two miles from our house.

That should be a blast! You'll be flying from Biggin, right, with Into the Blue?

The Spitfire was surely the most beautiful fighter of the period, but the Hawker Hurricane was also extremely important. I believe that during the Battle of Britain the spitfires concentrated on downing the German fighters whilst the Hurricanes attacked the bombers.

Yep, Hurricanes carried the brunt of the Battle, actually outnumbering the Spits two-to-one. I've always felt a certain attachment to the Hurricane since reading Paul Gallico's book, Hurricane Story, as a boy. To my eyes, Hurricanes were also beautiful in their own stubby, humpback way, but not quite appreciated by the public as much.

There was a common myth that the BEF and French soldiers trapped on the beaches were not defended by the RAF, which is largely due to the fact that most of their aerial actions were on the advancing German military and against the German fighters advancing to strafe the beaches, and protecting the ships in the channel.

In fact, Air Chief Marshall Hugh Dowding, commander of RAF Fighter Command, finally had to put his career on the line and strongly request in writing that Churchill stop sending fighters and pilots to France because so many had be sent, and lost, fighting in France, that it was threatening the upcoming defense of the British Isles in the Battle of Britain.

I have from time to time wondered how the Luftwaffe pilots felt about firing on an bombing the trapped troops.

From what I've read in my research, they were individuals, just like anyone else. In the book, A Higher Call, by Adam Makos, we learn that Captain Hans Joachim Marseille, the "Star of the Desert," the highest-scoring German ace in Africa, was an extremely spiritual person and tremendously moral. He was vocally anti-Nazi, was appalled by the murder of Jews, and was profoundly uncomfortable with authority in general. He taught a young pilot, Franz Stigler, that the only way he would maintain his humanity through combat was to ignore orders from above to take all steps to kill the enemy, even in his parachute, and instead, taught Stigler to "kill the plane, not the man." There was apparently a movement within the Luftwaffe of pilots who felt and behaved this way and quietly fought to destroy only the machines and once that was accomplished, left helpless men to survive. Obviously, there were also others who felt no compunction.

Bob