
After withstanding a bombardment from the Luftwaffe, they seize their opportunity. Neither Tommy or Gibson (as identified by his uniform) say a word, but their looks speak volumes - these men are sick of war and want nothing more than to get off that beach alive. There, he sees another man burying a fallen soldier. They are soon set upon by enemy fire, leaving Tommy the only survivor as he manages to reach the beach where thousands of British and French soldiers are awaiting rescue. We are first introduced to Tommy as he and his fellow soldiers wander the abandoned streets of Dunkirk. Information on picture books written by childrens author, Julia Donaldson, including The Gruffalo, The Gruffalos Child, Zog, Cave Baby, Freddie and the Fairy and A. Introduced as “The Mole” (the name for the concrete jetties which protect the beach and what the soldiers used in place of a proper dock), Dunkirk‘s first and largest time frame is concerned with the soldiers stranded on the beach - specifically, Fion Whitehead’s Tommy, Aneurin Barnard’s Gibson, and Harry Styles’ Alex as well as Kenneth Branagh’s Commander Bolton and James D’Arcy’s Colonel Winnant. To help make sense of the different time frames covered in Dunkirk and to explain when they begin intersecting, we’ve outlined (as best we can) the events of the film in a chronological order. Still, even for the most studied film buff, Dunkirk‘s timelines can be hard to follow. It’s a disorienting presentation, to be sure, (and especially with a script that has limited dialogue) but it does help reflect the frenetic atmosphere of the Dunkirk evacuation.

Instead, Nolan presents his film with three plots across three time frames, each starting at different points in relation to the evacuation’s end. However, given that this is a Christopher Nolan film and the director has a penchant for inventive storytelling, Dunkirk‘s plot is non- linear and the events do not transpire in a strictly chronological order. It’s those three elements - the events on the beaches of Dunkirk, the civilian fishing ships and ferries crossing the channel, and the RAF pilots battling the German Luftwaffe in the skies above - that comprise the bulk of the film’s running time. To better understand Dunkirks non-linear story, we string together the major events of the film in roughly the order they happen chronologically.

This remarkable feat was only made possible because of the many British and French soldiers who held off the advancing Germans, the air support provided by the Royal Air Force and, most amazingly, the civilian vessels that ventured into a war zone to bring home their soldiers. England from invasion - but in the end more than 3. June 4th, the plan was to evacuate at least 4.

Dunkirk is filled with fictional characters, but it’s based on the true events of that week in the summer of 1. Operation Dynamo, as it was officially called, was Winston Churchill’s last- ditch effort to save the British Expeditionary Forces from a catastrophic defeat, ensuring England would be left with a large enough fighting force to protect itself from the German army sweeping across Europe. WARNING: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Dunkirk–This weekend sees the release of Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, an intense and harrowing film depicting the miraculous evacuation of thousands of British soldiers from the beaches of France during WWII. Dunkirks Confusing Timeline Explained Screen Rant.
