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Essay / A reflection on the film Battle of Dunkirk
In 2017, the fiction film Dunkirk struck the hearts of cinemas and critics by depicting the different perspectives of what happened during the evacuations on the northern beaches of France at the start of the Second World War. . Before the film, little attention was paid to the hundreds of thousands of British and French soldiers who carried out one of the largest evacuations in the history of warfare. After the announcement that Dunkirk was coming to the cinema, my mother, like many others, woke up our entire house one Saturday morning to go see it with the family. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay. However, the difference was that when we got to the 10 a.m. show, it also served as a resource to learn more about our family. history. The film's earthly story, also called "The Mole", takes place over the course of one week, the longest period of the three different perspectives told throughout the film. As thousands upon thousands of British soldiers attempted to escape death, Naval Commander Bolton suggested an evacuation via the concrete piers of the East Mole, where over 200,000 lives were saved alone. The soldiers were shown lined up on the beaches, armed and ready to fight, desperately waiting to be rescued after the battle where they were significantly outnumbered by the Germans. Throughout "The Mole," Tommy, Alex, and other soldiers sought to save themselves while showing traits of greed, fear, and failure. After passing thousands of French soldiers, hiding under docks, sneaking onto a ship that was later torpedoed, swimming ashore, waiting for more on the beaches, and witnessing several suicides and deaths along the way , Tommy and Alex cross paths with the father. duo of sons from the Dunkirk “Sea” scenario and escape on their boat to safety. Dunkirk is filmed with a complexity that coincides with the nature of the evacuation. The three distinct stories that depict the efforts on land, sea and air give the audience the different perspectives needed to understand the attack from the soldiers' perspective with a chaotic feel, akin to the soldier's instincts and emotions during the battle. By portraying Tommy and Alex as two soldiers willing to risk everything and cut anyone off to get off the beach, it really shows how desperate the British and French were to get out of Dunkirk. I chose to focus on the third of the film from a territory perspective, where it was more about my family history, as my great grandfather participated as a soldier for the British territories. My great-grandfather identifies with Alex and Tommy in a sense, because when he found himself stranded, he also struggled with the lack of rescue ships. He told my uncle that someone had actually hit his hand with the ore towards the boat, insinuating that he should find another means of transportation. After being persuaded by another passenger on the ship, he was left on board. It sometimes makes me wonder: could there have been an alternative ending to the Battle of Dunkirk for my family, and if there was, I would even be here to share the story today.?