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Dunkirk has been criticised for ignoring Indian army

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

From Digital Spy

Christopher Nolan's latest film, Dunkirk, has been earning predictably rave reviews from all corners, including a glowing five-star review from us here at Digital Spy.

But there are some who have criticised the film, not as a piece of entertainment, but for how it presents a historical event.

Bloomberg View states that Dunkirk "adds to the falsehood that plucky Britons stood alone against Nazi Germany once France fell, when, in fact, hundreds of millions of imperial subjects stood, perforce, with them".

Photo credit: Warner Bros.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Meanwhile, the Times of India quotes the Indian Royal Navy's Lieutenant Commander as saying the film was a "missed opportunity to also tell the story of the lascars".

Nolan has previously stated that "Dunkirk is not a war film. It's a survival story and first and foremost a suspense film".

"What we decided to do was to really try and live in the moment of the experience," he added.

Joshua Levine, a historian who worked as a historical consultant on the film, told BBC News that "it isn't a film's job to tell the full story of Dunkirk... and nor, in the time available, could it even try to do so".

Photo credit: Warner Bros.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Levine continued: "This film focuses on a few protagonists whose paths cross occasionally, each one of whom experiences just a tiny corner of the whole story.

"What I'd love to see, though, is an Indian film about Dunkirk, or WW2 generally, and I sincerely hope Indian filmmakers are working on it."

Although it's a very serious and intense film, Dunkirk has provided some laughs thanks to the internet mercilessly Photoshopping Nigel Farage's reaction to the film.

Dunkirk is in cinemas now. Watch our interview with Christopher Nolan right here:


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