I realize this movie is about the British retreat and how the Germans failed to press home the attack to capture them, but the French were a huge part of the battle of Dunkirk and to leave them out entirely is really horrible story telling.
It is a shame that is all left out. They really should have covered the French military’s part in the battle.
I know the Brits can be irritating. I remember them saying that they almost had the war won before we ever got into it.
The TRUTH IS that without the French defending the Brits, they would not have escaped. Thousands of French were left behind and encircled had to surrender.
At the start of the film, one of the English soldiers is shown running through a sandbagged position manned by French troops. Presumably part of the perimeter keeping the beaches open. Another soldier he soon encounters on the beach turns out to be a French soldier. It isn’t clear to whether the second soldier is a French deserter or not. He’s sussed out by a third (English) soldier who notes the second soldier never talks. At the end of the movie, after seeing off a British colonel, a British admiral says he’s staying behind to supervise the evacuation of the French.
So the French are represented and mentioned in the movie. But it isn’t obvious and you have to pay very close attention. If French watchers are unhappy about it, it’s understandable.
I didn’t know the film cost $150MM to make. Two or three ships and a Spitfire wallow or heel over on their sides in the movie and people are shown scrambling over them. I imagine a lot of money was tied up in those scenes.
Personally, I liked the movie. I think it’s worth seeing if you’re a WWII history buff. It’s not your standard war movie, however, at all. It’s a bit like the gritty realism of the first half-hour of Saving Private Ryan crossed with the story-telling technique of Syriana. It’s not ‘Heartbreak Ridge’ though there are some moments of heroism.
Apart from aircraft bombing, strafing, and dogfighting the Germans have no real presence in the movie. That is, they are portrayed in an impersonal, almost absent-minded way. I found that refreshing. Novel, at least.
For anyone wondering about the way the movie cuts back in forth—particularly if you haven’t seen it yet: the movie tells three disjointed stories that come together towards the very end. The story about the three soldiers on the beach takes place over the course of a week. The story about the three civilians in the small-craft fleet takes place over the course of a day. The story about the three RAF pilots takes place over the course of an hour. The movie notes this early on, but you have to pick up on it and remember.
They weren’t left out of the movie. They are shown holding the town and at the end they were being evacuated.