Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance
Revealing mistake: The ship set up for the capsize scene is supposedly mid channel and heading for England when it is bombed by the Heinkel, but it is at anchor.
Revealing mistake: In some of the shots where multiple British soldiers are together, most have their rifles (Short Magazine Lee Enfield, No. 1 Mk 3) slung or are holding them. Some of the rifles are dummy, toy rifles that look nothing like the Enfield and are just to stand in.
Factual error: When the returning soldiers are on the train at the end of the film, it's an open plan post-war British Rail Mark I type, which where built from around 1950. Also the blue upholstery on the seats looks to be the corporate blue introduced by British Rail in the 1960s, used by the preserved railway owning the stock, and not what would have featured in Southern Railway carriages of the time. The carriages also have horizontally-sliding windows, which are far more contemporary than wartime trains, which had windows with a much larger vertical opening, held in place by a leather strap.
Lance-Corporal: The tide's turning now.
Colonel Winnant: How can you tell?
Lance-Corporal: The bodies are coming back.
Trivia: In reality, Adolf Hitler ordered his commanders and troops to stand down and allow Allied forces to escape at Dunkirk. The German General von Blumentritt is quoted as saying "He (Hitler) then astonished us by speaking with admiration of the British Empire, of the necessity for its existence, and of the civilisation that Britain had brought into the world...He said that all he wanted from Britain was that she should acknowledge Germany's position on the Continent." But the exact reason for the order remains unknown.
Suggested correction: Hitler's controversial 'halt' order at Dunkirk had nothing to do with chivalry. The most widely accepted reason for the order is that the Wehrmacht Panzer units had been fighting continuously for two weeks, and badly needed some rest in preparation for Fall rot, phase two of the invasion of France. Infantry and air power continued to attack the Dunkirk pocket throughout the evacuation while the armoured units rested.
Question: Why did Peter Dawson lie to the shell-shocked soldier about George and not retaliate or have him charged for George's death?
Answer: When George got injured, before he died, Peter did not understand what the soldier had been through. In fact he was honest with him when he asked if George was OK the first time. After he got to Dunkirk he saw what happens in war. What people went through. He understood why someone would be shell-shocked and empathized with the soldier more. After that he wanted to spare the soldiers feelings and not make him feel worse.
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