A Dunkirk today would be livestreamed and endlessly reposted on social media, and while we might be able to follow the disaster in nearly real time, our responses to it are endlessly filtered through ideology and bias. Our leaders carefully choose their response based on how it will damage their opposite numbers, while the public either joins a cheering section or – an option growing in popularity – turns away in disgust, overwhelmed not just by once-scarce information but by their access to the thoughts and actions of their fellow citizenry.
Perhaps this is the key to Dunkirk’s unlikely success. Nolan’s film, while apparently a war movie based on actual history, actually plays on the screens of our minds like a fantasy.
