The film is definitely Nolan's personal performance! Three subjective experiences of war at different times reflect the anti-war theme very uniquely.
The film "Dunkirk" shows a big defeat and a big retreat, which is rare in the film industry in the past. Coincidentally, I went to Jining, Inner Mongolia, to visit the "Jining Battle Memorial Hall" not long ago, and was surprised to find that we did not know or rarely mentioned a great defeat of the People's Liberation Army in the past: the "Second Battle of Jining". After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, our army rushed to attack Jining in January of 46, which was the first Jining campaign; "Since September of 46, our army has concentrated 50 regiments with hundreds of thousands of people to attack Datong, and the enemy has been fighting for a long time; Fu Zuoyi’s troops turned to Jining and rescued Datong. The battle was very tragic. It lasted for one and a half months before and after the Battle of Jining. The People’s Liberation Army fought continuously and annihilated 12,000 enemy troops. It was not brave. However, due to command errors, the battle failed and Datong failed. Jining was captured and Jining fell again. The defeat of this battle put Zhangjiakou, a major town of the People’s Liberation Army, in an unfavorable situation where Fu Zuoyi’s forces attacked from both sides. It also led to the sharp deterioration of the situation faced by the Jinchaji Military Region. The Northwest Field Army was also extremely passive strategically. Hu Zongnan took the opportunity to attack Yan'an, and Mao Zedong and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China were forced to withdraw from Yan'an.” Of course, the third Jining battle in 48 years was a big victory, not only regaining Jining, but also directly leading to Fu Zuoyi's uprising and the victory of the Pingjin Campaign.
The Battle Exhibition Hall in Jining recorded these three battles in detail with facts and pictures. After watching it, we were greatly impressed. This history should really be made into a TV series, because there is a big failure, there will be a big victory later; and no matter what victory is won. Defeat, the dedication of soldiers and commanders in the flames of war should be eulogized and remembered. We cannot always report the good and the bad, and we cannot just look back on the past victories and achievements without reflecting on the past failures and setbacks. Today I saw Nolan’s film about Dunkirk’s collapse, which really satisfied our wish and exceeded our expectations.
Of course, the director's wonderful exploration and creation on screen time is more worthy of in-depth study and research by film professionals.
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