#dunquerque

Dunquerque: Parlay?

Richelieu: Pirate code. She wants a meeting.

Dunquerque: So everyone here knows pirate code?

Dunkirk Christopher Nolan. 2017

Seaside 16-31 Digue de Mer, Malo-les-Bains, 59240 Dunquerque, France See in map

Finally! A review! I’m back now, sorry for my absence… This time I felt like presenting to you... My thoughts on Christopher Nolan’s film Dunkirk, which premiered earlier this year! 

Nolan has for a long time been an advocate of shooting film instead of video (i.e. analog instead of digital) and has for this picture used a combination of IMAX 65mm and traditional 65mm film. In my hometown, one of the movie theaters has equipment to screen films in 70mm format, but sadly I never got the chance to experience Dunkirk in its analog form. Still, I am very happy that I went to see it anyway, even if it was a digital screening. The photography and the powerful sound and music is no doubt best experienced with a surround sound system and with the widest screen possible. 

So, moving on. The plot. Dunkirk is basically a story about the evacuation of stranded soldiers from Dunkirk during WWII. The opening text reads that 400.000 British and French soldiers were waiting for rescue from the shores, being surrounded by enemy forces. The plot evolves around three different “places” being The Mole (infantry events), The Sea, and The Air. The time perspectives are also different since the film covers the time periods leading up to the different groups encounters at Dunkirk. So the events at the beach takes place a week before the evacuation, the events at sea a day before, and the events in the air an hour before. This creates a non-chronological story where more information is presented gradually. 

I really like the tension that is created both by the storytelling and the music. I honestly think that this movie soundtrack is straight up amazing, it was pure satisfaction to just let it take over ones mind completely while watching the film. The composer Hans Zimmer has collaborated with Nolan in several previous productions such as Inception and Interstellar and has created a very creative soundscape for Dunkirk, for instance by using the sound of a pocket watch for the film score’s constant ticking, as well as incorporating a Shepard tone to create the illusion of an endless rise in pitch, which contributes to the sense of escalation as the story unfolds. 

Moving on to the marvelous cinematography, Nolan has collaborated with photographer Hoyte van Hoytema, who actually lives in Sweden (my motherland)! He has worked on some great swedish films but is probably most known for his work on Interstellar, Her, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. His work is always very visually pleasing, and Dunkirk is no exception. I can’t describe the experience in any other way but beautiful. 

The acting in Dunkirk is very good. Above all, I appreciate the acting by the younger and more inexperienced actors such as Fionn Whitehead and Barry Keoghan, not to mention Harry Styles, who is actually proving himself to be a talented actor (and of course easy on the eye as well). Tom Hardy is good as always. Kenneth Branagh portrays his character rather boring in my opinion, but it’s no disaster. 

To sum up, I think Dunkirk tells a horrifying and dramatic story in the most engaging and dynamic of ways. One of my favorite things about this film is that it shows the remorseless nature of war; there are no heroes, no winners. In war, everyone loses one way or another. 

Yet I have a few objections towards the story, concerning representation. Many viewers have expressed their disappointment that Nolan chose to depict only British soldiers, with the exception of one French soldier. Not only did the French army make a great effort in holding back german forces during the evacuation, there was also a large number of Indian soldiers supporting the Brits at Dunkirk. Furthermore, there are almost no POC characters at all, even though neither the British nor the French population consisted solely of white people at this time. Even though Britain initially was reluctant to let black people participate in the war, they quickly changed their grounds as war progressed and the casualties grew larger. Not to mention all the Caribbean soldiers from British colonies who contributed on the frontline. Also, Dunkirk has only two (yes, that is TWO (2)) women with speaking roles... Like seriously? I don’t even know what to say in this matter other than SIGH... When are people going to stop pretend that American and British WHITE MEN were the only ones who participated in and experienced historic events? Just makes me tired is all. 

Still, Dunkirk is a good movie. Great actually. So great that I will give it a score of...

8,4 out of 10

Requested: Yes! thanks so much @fionnandfriends !! hopefully that tags you like it should and I hope you enjoy!! Let's all say a prayer that there aren't too many typos, I wanted to get this to you asap!!

Rating: R for smut!!

Summary: It’s everyone’s last night of freedom before you all go to work on the war front the next morning, so you and Tommy, who meet by chance, decide to have one more night of fun.

Remember requests are open for anyone!!!

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“Alright, ladies, I’ve taught you everything I can, you’re going to feel unprepared. That’s natural, this is war, nobody is born prepared for it. You will learn everything you need to know from each other, and as you go, I promise you will all surprise yourselves with how much you will accomplish. Make me proud, I’m already so proud of you all and I can’t wait to hear of everything you have yet to achieve,”

The head nurse sighed, leaning on her desk and tilting her head slightly. “And I guess, after all of your hard work, you all can leave early- please make good choices!”

Every girl in the room got up out of their desks with whoops and cheer at the words of the head nurse, she’d been like a mother to you all during the fast paced training you’d all gone through to become war front nurses. You’d learned so much that you could only hope to retain enough to save lives.

Everyone grabbed their jackets from hooks on the wall and said goodbye to the head nurse, who smiled and waved, bidding all of the young nurses to go and have a good time while they could.

All of you stood in a circle outside of the makeshift nursing school, an old church that had been converted for training not only you nurses, but technicians and soldiers as well.

“What should we do with our day? It’s only noon now, we have until six-oh-clock tomorrow morning to have fun!” Peggy exclaimed, she had beautiful dark hair and a trim figure.

“Let’s all go get some food, and by food I mean desert!” Jackie laughed and everyone agreed, walking in the direction of the nearest town. As you were walking, you heard the roar of a truck from behind you, the group of you all veered to the side of the road to avoid the vehicle you all anticipated, all 26 of you looking over your shoulder.

It was a military truck, full of young men, squished into the cabin and the open topped trailer hooked to it, hanging off of the sides. They slowed as they drove past you, rolling at about the pace of your walking.

“‘Ello, ladies, lovely day ain’t it?” A few of the younger girls giggled at the attention. You just smirk, scanning the boys’ faces, your eyes catch on one in particular, he has dark hair and a pretty face, one you’ve never seen before. You would’ve remembered seeing somebody that looked as good as him. He noticed your staring, and while normally you’d look away, you were empowered by the feeling that nothing that happened tonight mattered- you were all going to war tomorrow, your childhoods would all be demolished day by day faster than any of you had originally planned. He sent a smile your way, winking. You smiled back, winking subtly at him. This caught the attention of his comrades and he received a few hoots and punches on the shoulder, as well as comments along the lines of what a “fine bird” he’d gotten the attention of.

He had a friend who was positioned next to him with equally dark, short curly hair that whispered something into his ear that made his face go red. His friend just smirked and sat back in his seat.

You didn’t have to think hard about what he might have said, Jackie had just made a joke the other night about how “deprived” the new soldiers must be feeling right around this time, having not been around any women in months.

The boy who you’d been staring at pushed his way through the crowd and made his way to the end of the slowly moving truck, he bent his knees as he jumped off the back end, quickly regaining his balance and looking up to find you.

“Go get her, lover boy!” A boy called from the truck, to that you held up a middle finger in the direction of the boys with a smirk.

“Hi,” his voice caught you off guard, he wasn’t American. “Hello,” you replied, walking slowly behind the group of girls so they wouldn’t eavesdrop on your conversation. Jackie continued to banter with the driver of the truck so you didn’t have to worry about the truck leaving your newfound crush behind any time soon. “So, you’re a nurse?” You nodded, “so you’re a soldier?” He nodded. “Yeah, they say we’re getting shipped out to France in the morning, so I’ll be closer to home but still not close,” he sighed.

“Actually that’s a good thing, no need for the conflict to get any closer to home than it already has,” you nodded. You hated how everyone around here was obsessed with the war. It was all anyone talked about, you knew it was because you were all terrified, but you wished you could have one night without worrying about it, even though the reality of war was closer than ever. Suddenly, the thought sparked in your head that you may never see this boy again.

“You’re really cute- um, what’s your name?” “Tom- Tommy, and thank you, gorgeous, what’s your name?”

You told him and he rolled your name off of his tongue and through his teeth, savoring the sound.

“Well, Tommy, as I was saying, you’re pretty damn good looking, what do you say we forget what’s happening tomorrow and have a grand time tonight together?”

Tom grinned, he liked you.

“That sounds like the perfect evening, to me, where should we go first?”

“How about we lose the group, were going to see them every day for months, how about we go see a movie, pretend we’re in love?” You joked to him. He knew you were joking and laughed, then looked at you again. “I wish there was time to fall in love with you, for real, YN,”

You felt your face heat up, you were determined to have a good time tonight but you were still you, and you weren’t immune to his charm.

The two of you followed the group to town, down the long winding dirt road that was thinly lined by trees. “Where to, doll?” Tommy asked, motioning to the town with his arm, grabbing your hand in his with the other.

“Well, handsome, lets go on a little rendezvous and fall in love,” you said and began walking towards the diner located to your right. The group had fractioned off into smaller groups with nurses and soldiers all talking and laughing together.

“Well, YN, tell me everything about yourself,” Tommy requested and you told him everything, and then asked him to do the same. He did, all the while you two talking and laughing and flirting, eating multiple courses of food. By the time the two of you noticed, the sky had gone dark and the restaurant had emptied out considerably, most of the young people gravitating towards a club across the street. “Well, my love, should we join them?” He motioned with his hand against the window, the cool glass shocking his skin.

“I would love that, my beloved,” you giggled, Tommy and you left money on the table with your many, many empty dishes and interlocked your fingers, holding hands and swinging your arms between you slightly as you walked to the dance hall. Swing music emanated from the open doors, the summer air was warm the spring air of early May filtering in and out freely.

“May I have this dance?” Tommy held out his hand with a grin after the two of you paid your entry fee.

“And all of the others,” you smiled, the two of you danced for an hour at least, before a smoother, jazzier song played and Tommy twirled you under his arm, this time instead of completing the turn you stayed facing the same direction as your partner.

You swayed your hips to the song, the night was still early enough, but you could tell by the positioning of his hands on your hips that he had more hopes for the night than just dancing.

His hands creeped lower, pulling you tightly against his chest, you leaned your head up to whisper into his ear after scanning the room with your eyes. “We’re attracting attention, Tommy,”

“Jealousy is an ugly trait that’s hard to hide,” Tommy teased back, rolling his hips into yours so subtly only you would ever know. You bit your lip to avoid letting out a telling noise.

“Why don’t we take this somewhere more private?” You suggested, Tommy’s eyes darkened so much that you could tell in the dark.

“Yes ma'am,” he replied with a gravelly voice. The two of you linked arms and walked with purpose from the hall, waving goodbye to some of the people you recognized. Several of your friends, both nurses and soldiers winked and cheered at the two of you as you walked through the hall arm and arm.

You knew there was a seedy hotel just down the street, but neither of you wanted to hassle with traveling there, checking in, paying, and having to stay in a bed that probably would be less comfortable than the cots you’d been sleeping on for the duration of your training.

You motioned to the bathrooms, Tommy laughed a bit under his breath, admitting into your ear. “I cannot believe we’re doing this, love,” before knocking on the door. He opened the door and looked inside. There was only one toilet and the door locked from the inside. The two of you looked around to make sure nobody was watching, and quickly entered the bathroom, nerves causing Tommy to pull you in behind him quickly by your arm.

Tommy pushed you against the door, making it slightly shift within its frame. The bathroom was dimly lit but neither of you could care less about your current surroundings.

“I was so lucky that you saw me, today,” Tommy said between kisses all over your face. “I was so lucky when you came down off that truck to find me,” you said, your voice raising an octave or two in a whimper, Tom’s supple lips making their way down your neck, to where your dress came together with a line of buttons that ran down your chest.

“I was so lucky to fall in love with you,” he spoke softly, raising one of your hands to his lips gently, his eyes locked on yours.

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

From there it was a frenzy of hands, you removing his shirt and belt as quickly as you could, his hands working on the line of buttons, you worked from the bottom and he worked from the top. He stopped mid way and took off the rest of his clothes, you stopped your movement to look at his body for a moment.

Training had clearly taken it’s toll on his physique- it was beautiful. You could see every detail of him and it made you all the more excited. His hands returned to reveal yourself to him in return.

He worked through a final button as you did the same, your hands meeting as your dress fell open, showing off your bra and underwear.

“Fuck, no wonder I fell in love with you, you’re a goddess,” Tommy murdered into your ear, bringing your hands above your head against the door with one hand, caressing each of your curves with his other, pulling your bra down enough to expose your breasts, and teasing your nipples. He tweaked at them with his fingers before moving to work on them with his mouth, after a few moments he moved down to between your thighs, kissing over your panties. You hadn’t stopped moaning since he started his work on you, and you couldn’t be more excited when he picked you up, and placed you in the counter, he could see your back in the mirror and reached down with both hands to squeeze your ass, your legs dangling off of the ledge.

“Gonna take care of you, darling, don’t you worry,” he kissed your lips, one hand supporting your back, the other moving your underwear to the side enough so he had full view. “God, you’re so fucking wet, so hot,” he moaned at the sight of you and your head leaned back against the mirror.

“Please, we’ve gotta hurry-” your breath hitched as he inserted a finger, pumping it fast inside of you, you reached to play with his painfully hard length, teasing the tip that was red and dripping for you.

By now Tommy had two fingers in you pumping faster than ever and you were nearly ready to come, your legs shaking and head moving from side to side, trying to concentrate on pleasuring your new lover.

His hips bucked into your hands as he leaned forward, an arm helping to steady him on the mirror above your head. “You ready for me, doll?” You nodded eagerly and before you knew it, he was inside you, his body moving fast, hips aligned with yours.

Your hands were in his hair and you kissed, teeth touching at times.

“I’m- not gonna last, love,” Tom said apologetically, not slowing his pace. “Me- me either,” you said, struggling to get the words out along with your heavy breathing, you were already so close from just his fingers. You looked him in the eyes as he reached down and rubbed frantically between your legs. Your eyes rolled back and your head was thrown back in pleasure, meeting with the mirror behind you again.

“Come for me, my love,” Tom requested, and who were you to deny him?

Less than a moment later your walls clenched around him and he thrusted faster than ever, continuing to rub at your sensitive nerves.

You came so hard you saw stars, head leaning on Tommy’s shoulder, a layer of sweat covering both of you, your cheeks flushed. Tom had pulled out in time to finish in the sink, turning on the water to wash out the basin of the sink.

“Alex, he was right about you,” You looked up, curious as to where Tommy was going with this.

“He said you might be the best thing to ever 'appen to me,” your head tilted to the side as his kind words washed over you.

“I love you,” you said again. “I love you,” he repeated.

You cleaned yourself up as best you could, pulling your clothes back on. Tommy did the same, and the two of you agreed to meet outside of the hall as to not arouse suspicion from your friends.

You went first, finding a set of patio chairs outside the hall. You waited for a while in the cool spring air, watching the stars. Tommy came out and sat in the matching chair, a small round table between the two of you.

You both sat in comfortable silence, which was interrupted by a friend of yours coming out of the hall with a camera in hand.

“What happened to you two- wait, never mind, I don’t want to know,” she laughed, holding up the camera. “Do y'all want a picture from tonight?”

You looked at Tommy who nodded, you nodded as well and smiled at him, before the two of you could even look at the camera, the flash went off, the box-shaped camera spit out a photo of the two of you smiling at each other, looking like a real couple.

“This is cute,” Tom grinned, staring at the photograph. “Yeah, it is,” you agreed. The two of you looked at your friend who requested you both smile at the lens. You both obeyed and the flash went off again, both of your eyes squinting, but your smiles remaining the same. “One for you, and one for me,” You smiled, setting them both out on the table. “Thank you, Kit, that’s so kind of you,” you smiled at your friend who nodded happily at the two of you.

“Of course, now, you two love birds enjoy your evening and please, stay out of any more trouble,” she laughed to herself and winked at you. You and Tom laughed and spent the rest of the night staring at each other, wanting something beautiful to remember later on.

You took the picture of the two of you staring at each other, and folded it to fit in your locket. Tom did the same, he’d bought a dog tagged shaped necklace with a compartment that had stayed empty until now.

The next morning, with only a few moments before check-in, Tom ran up to you, pulling you from a group of other nervous nurses. “Hello, my love.” He said, a pen in hand. “Do you still have the picture?” He inquired, you nodded, pulling it from your necklace to show him. He took it from your hands and wrote on the back of it. “Here’s my full name, and my address, so you can find me, when all this hell is over,” he said, handing the picture back to you.

You did the same on his picture with your information and he tucked the photo away in its new and permanent home.

“I love you,” he said again as a loud voice called for everyone to line up to be checked in for service.

“I love you,” you repeated. This time you didn’t care if anyone saw you- you wrapped your arms around him one last time and kissed him, before breaking away and running to your assigned spot, waving goodbye once you reached it. He did the same after reaching where he was supposed to go, it already felt too far away.