Dunkirk

Dunkirk (2017)

3 corrections since 23 Jan '18, 00:00

(20 votes)

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.

Charles Austin Miller

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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.

Factual error: When Commander Boulton is looking out to sea at the civilian navy he has the binoculars backwards.

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Suggested correction: No, he doesn't. The objective lenses are smaller than on modern binoculars but he definitely has the binoculars the right way round. You can tell he has the binoculars the right way round because the objective lenses are on the outside of the two barrels. The eyepiece is on the inside of the barrels.

To add to the above correction, you can see WW2 binoculars at https://globalwarmuseum.com/produkt/binoculars-british-army-1943-mk-iii-x6-taylor-hobson-perfect-optics/. Commander Boulton can be seen holding them correctly at https://fyeahkennethbranagh.tumblr.com/post/168344257844/dunkirk-2017-dir-christopher-nolan.

Peter Harrison

Corrected entry: When the 2 men carry the stretcher on the beach early in the morning, one can see the tracks left in the sand by the camera buggy.

Correction: This is a duplicate of an entry which has already been corrected. To quote that correction, "That's a Steadicam shot which requires no dolly tracks. What you can see is the wrecked and partially buried light railway tracks leading to the mole, visible in photographs taken during the evacuation and cleverly restaged here."

Factual error: In the scene towards the start of the film in Weymouth harbour, you can see the huge building which is Weymouth Pavilion, which was built in 1954, after the original 1909 building burnt down.

freedom2006

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Lance-Corporal: The tide's turning now.
Colonel Winnant: How can you tell?
Lance-Corporal: The bodies are coming back.

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Trivia: There are only two women with speaking parts in the whole film, with 47 words between them.

More trivia for Dunkirk

Question: A few minutes into the movie you see English troops all lined-up on the beach with no obvious means of evacuation. That leaves them very exposed to German gunfire and aerial attack. It would seem that the English soldiers would stay off the beach until actually called-up for evacuation. Not to mention the obvious requirement that some troops would have to stay off the beach to defend the evacuation area. How realistic are those scenes?

Answer: That's exactly how it was. If you search for images of the evacuation, the troops were stood in lines, waiting to be evacuated. The Germans were held at bay, and the air raids were periodic, so there was little risk on the beaches.

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