miserabile vulgus — Aeneid II. 798
What is Dunkirk?
Dunkirk is a work of art that dares to venture. The sky and sea in Dunkirk are impressionistic, and the film is like a ship struggling in the dark night and storm in JMW Turner's landscape oil painting. The two high-ranking officers on the embankment are like Chorus in an ancient Greek drama, providing background in a few words. Since then, the film has been taciturn and does not need to chatter at all, and the plot is Dunkirk. The fear on the beach does not come with a subjective dive shot, but with the expressions of the people around, with the panic falling to the ground, with the rumbling roar. Confusion, confusion, tension, despair are intertwined, here and there, little by little, accumulating little by little, and sitting on pins and needles, longing for release, liberation. Until the commander on the embankment took off the binoculars, two tears in the corners of his eyes, until he was rescued by the sea of fire and wiped away the oil stains on his face, until he put a "never surrender" fire on the stretch of sand. Go home, go home, until a stunned ending.
heroes and enemies
Heroes are myths that are deliberately created in war. These "myths" are not because the propaganda machine of a giant spirit shows the fangs of ambition, but because the reality is too tragic, too tragic, apart from shame, in addition to silence, in addition to the self-deception of "that child will get better", we also It takes "myth" to carry on. So, Dunkirk is a film about how myths are born.
At first, there were only arrows on the map, gunshots, bombing. Then, there are enemies. Who is the enemy? When all sides are in turmoil, everyone is a bird in shock. The German machine guns are your enemy, and you can also be an enemy if there is no way to solve it. The living opposition is the enemy.
Who is the hero? The commander who organized the retreat decided to stay; the French who had mixed in with the British opened the hatch; the yacht captain insisted on heading for the forced-landing fighter; the pilot was about to run out of fuel and chose to continue fighting with the phrase "Alright"; the surviving soldiers on the train? , they say, just survived. Every little person has done so little more. All the "little bits" added together seem to accomplish a big thing. But what kind of thing is it, all the people who are in it don't know, they only know a little bit about themselves. It was a leader who was never seen in the newspapers that characterised the event: the whole film came to an abrupt end when the surviving soldiers read Churchill's famous speech in the House of Commons, looking in disbelief, not knowing what was going on. From this moment on, Churchill became the creator of the Dunkirk myth, let them be heroes.
What is Dunkirk not?
"Dunkirk" is not "theme" and "patriotic". The task of the "main theme" and "patriotic films" (if there is such a concept) is to shape the myth, tell you that the myth is true, this is history, draw a group of people, tell you that these people are heroes, leaders, praise them. Complete impossible tasks. Come forward, sacrifice your life for justice, there is a beginning and an end to the arc of the role. What's more, he is wise and martial, the people's heart desires, and the world is at peace.
Of course, these are definitely not false narratives, nor do they deny true heroic deeds, but "Dunkirk" is not satisfied with these indestructible techniques, nor is it low enough to sell a certain historical event. (This kind of accusation doesn't deserve even a response.) The translation of Home into "motherland" in the film can also be said to be another clumsy kitsch.
The attempts and breakthroughs in the narrative of "Dunkirk" are like a mirror. This is a road that the giants will never take, and it is also the opposite that the people who are under the giants will never be able to reach.
View more about Dunkirk reviews
