Dunkirk was ridiculous in every way
Darkest Hour is brilliant inspirational and brilliant
In every way
Dunkirk was good but you have to understand it was an artistic film concentrating on elements of fear and tension and not of the “Longest Day” or “Saving Private Ryan” genre.
I disagree to a degree, simply because I didn’t think it was ridiculous in EVERY way.
I thought in at least one respect it captured quite well the fear and desperation of men who were trapped in a shrinking perimeter with no way out...well symbolized (to me) by the scene where the men were packed in on the pier, and were bombed and strafed by the German pilots.
That scene was a microcosm of the whole thing...there was nowhere to go...nowhere to run...nowhere to hide. All they could do was close their eyes and make themselves as small as they could...and hope. And the desperation to get out, to not be one of the last people left there when the last boat left (before all the small boats began showing up). I could get that.
Where the movie lost me was the jumping back and forth. I understood what they were trying to do, but it became difficult to keep time and place.
I watched it with my brother and my wife and we actually did laugh about the Spitfire sequences...where he almost seemed to be going backwards, never gaining, but actually losing ground with each scene...”Well...he still hasn’t caught up yet, and we are 3/4 of the way through the movie...”
Additionally, they didn’t provide enough clues to the viewer where they were at any given time...some of the characters looked quite similar, and it was hard to tell if you were flashing back, or seeing something new. That made it disappointing to me.
I am a huge Churchill fan, admire the man, and to me, his flaws make him even more attractive, remarkable and interesting to me. I think he was the greatest man of the 20th Century. He was the pivot upon which history turned at that point.