Dunkirk

I have just spent a weekend in Dunkirk. Prior to the trip I read a lot about the Fall Of France and Operation Dynamo.

So I am watching this underrated BBC drama documentary again.

I think this is well made and an easy watch. If I was a history teacher or had kids I would get them to watch this as well as doing some old fashioned reading.

I can't understand the heavy criticism of this production,it has few known actors,there is some guy called Benedict Cumberbatch who is good in this,whatever happened to him?

As for Dunkirk the place it is a fascinating place to visit and the locals were freindly.

I found this film to be educational. I learned a lot of facts that I never knew existed. The scenes with Churchill and his advisers were hypnotic. The acting was touching and down to earth. I am now looking forward to the new rendering of 'Dunkirk'(2017) armed with the knowledge from this remarkable film.

It's an American, British, and French production that provides a gripping portrayal of an event during World War II. The storyline revolves around the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of British and French soldiers trapped by the German army. More than 800 civilian boats, alongside military vessels, participated in the rescue operation, highlighting the collective effort of both the military and civilian communities.

The film captures the intensity and chaos of war, focusing on the Dunkirk evacuation, a crucial moment in history. It offers a multifaceted perspective, depicting the experiences of soldiers and civilians alike as they come together to face the challenges posed by the German forces. The cinematography and direction contribute to the immersive experience, creating a sense of urgency and tension throughout.

Curious programme as it seems to almost deliberately and consciously write the Merchant Navy out of the evacuation of the BEF from Dunkirk. Even when what is clearly a Merchant ship is being attacked by Stukas, in contemporary black and white film, the narrator refers to Royal Navy destroyers! When Merchant ships are referred to they are almost invariably called personnel ships or supply ships, almost never Merchant ships. The only actual reference to a Merchant ship is where one is on fire and a group of Royal Navy people go onboard to fight the fire. Even then there don't seem to be any Merchant Navy people present. Is this a deliberate omission, or one based on ignorance?

The drama-documentary Dunkirk (2004) was, in my opinion, the finest example of the genre produced by the BBC and was well reviewed by John Keegan of The Telegraph, whose article of 19/02/04 may still be found on the web, although I could not agree with his suggestion that our men were pasty-faced, underfed soldiers not well represented by modern fresh-faced actors, for most of those I saw as a boy during the war, before and after Dunkirk, were neither pale nor hungry; but those of the BEF who formed an army in retreat and rout and who suffered strafing, hunger and fatigue on the beeches as they awaited embarkation, death or surrender, were no doubt not in the best of physical form.

The quality of this production, its direction and the performance of the cast were beyond reproach and should not have been the target of petty criticism. There were so many really excellent, convincing representations of personnel ranging from soldiers to generals and cabinet ministers that one is reluctant to select any of them for special mention, but among the actors whose roles were portrayed with startling realism were Benedict Cumberbatch as Lt Jimmy Langley, James Loye as Lt David Mellis RN (bearing a strong resemblance to the man whose part he played and, in one scene, carrying a photograph of the real Mrs Mellis, as she was in 1940), Adrian Rawlins as Capt Bill Tennant RN, Beechmaster, Simon Russell Beale as Winston Churchill, all outstanding performances.

The interpolation of archive film was very well done and enhanced the general picture of violent action at sea, the plight of the army, and the huge scale of the operations managed and co-ordinated by the Royal Navy, including those of inshore fishing vessels and other small craft. The disembarkations at Dover (including, I think, those of troops rescued by HMS Malcolm and piped ashore by Lt Mellis) and their entrainment for London could not have been more appropriate or more relevant to the drama, which seemed to fill in the gaps between main events and to inform us of the experiences of individuals and the roles of senior officers and politicians who played a part in the evacuation.

My only complaint is that this great work is not available on DVD.