So, I hear you liked Dunkirk.
And now you’re probably puttering around your house wondering what happens to all those guys after the credits roll - after they get off the train, the boat, the long walk across the beach.
In the aftermath of the evacuation, Britain enters a period known as The Phony War, followed very closely by what will become known as The Battle of Britain. (If you’re an American, we don’t learn much about this in school; it’s also sometimes called the Blitz.)
Since the (American) experience of World War Two tends to be shaped by American-centric movies on American lead-battles (Pearl Harbor, Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Fury, The Longest Day, The Thin Red Line, Hacksaw Ridge, Patton) I thought I would put together a short (and by no means exhaustive!) list of World War two films and TV series with a slightly more British perspective.
(If you liked Dunkirk for Christopher Nolan’s gorgeous cinematography or that Harry Styles kid, this list may not be for you - the films on it have been selected because they all take place at roughly the same point in history. No claims are being made on the historical accuracy of any of the pieces here.)
You may wish to start with the 1958 version of Dunkirk directed by Leslie Norman or the 2004 docudrama about the evacuation.
After that, there’s a bunch of fun films made during the war years. (Remember, going to ‘the pictures’ was a big deal and, as today, kind of the place where you got some of your news.) The Lion Has Wings, A Yank in the RAF…the list goes on.
More recently, though, we have:
First Light - another movie about fighter pilots in the RAF, this one starring Outlander’s Sam Heughan.
The Brylcreem Boys - At the end of Dunkirk, we see Tom Hardy’s Farrier walking to a line of waiting Germans, who will, presumably, take him to a POW camp for the duration. But did you also know there were POW camps in Ireland? As a neutral nation, and to sidestep any accusations of favoritism, any pilot who was shot down over the Republic of Ireland was interned.
Colditz - Speaking of POW camps, Colditz was one of the most infamous prisoner of war installations in Germany - and nearly impossible to escape from. Damien Lewis (just slightly after Band of Brothers fame) Laurence Fox, and (gasp!) Tom Hardy all star as soldiers trying to make it back to Britain.
And, while we’re talking about POWs, I really don’t feel like anyone should miss out on watching David Lean’s The Bridge on the River Kwai. Is it totally the wrong theater of war for this list? Yes, it is. Is it a great film? You bet your bonnet it is. Alec Guinness’ performance is not to be missed and it has one of the most iconic film scores. Many, many pop culture references will suddenly make sense after you hear the Colonel Bogey March.
If you, like I did, really enjoyed Mark Rylance’s Mr. Dawson, you may be interested in learning more about what life was like on the home front for those families with sons, nephews, or friends in the war.
Home Fires - A group of women in a small town and thier activities with the Women’s Institute, or WI. A really great (and recent) ensemble drama from our friends at the BBC. If you enjoy this, read The Jambusters, the book on which it’s based.
Housewife, 49 - Just before the war, several researchers were very interested in finding out what the public perception of everyday problems was. In order to learn more about the average person’s experiences, they created a project that asked people to answer surveys and brief questions. Later, during the war years, they also asked for diaries and letters detailing thier everyday lives - what would become known as Mass Observation. One of these diarists was Nella Last - a housewife, 49 years old, with a son in the service and severe anxiety. One of my all-time favorite mini-series’ about the war.
Bomb Girls - Canadian TV series about women working in a munitions factory. Possibly available on Netflix.
Land Girls - Britain, as an island, runs into a slight problem during wartime; thier food supplies run low. Agriculture, then, takes on prime significance, while all the labor that should be helping on farms is also simultaneously called into the armed forces. In the First and Second World Wars, women step in to fill the gaps left in many industries, including farming. A little dramatic, as TV mini-series go, but another look at the war from a slightly different angle.
Foyle’s War - Foyle’s War is a crime procedural that takes place in the little town outside of London called Hastings. Great acting from Michael Kitchen and company, and, another fun connection - Foyle’s son Andrew is also a fighter pilot in the RAF.
Island at War - Another mini-series, this one about the Channel Islands during the German Occupation. (If you enjoy this one, please go read The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society. If you don’t enjoy it, go read the book anyway. It’s darling.)
Small Island - Britain has a rather different attitude to race than America did in the 1940s, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t still without its problems. This miniseries follows a Jamaican airman during his time in England.
Castles in the Air - We take things like our GPS and cell phones for granted, but World War two broke some really important ground when it came to use of development of technologies like radio and, in the case of this film, radar. Eddie Izzard leads a team of weathermen (yes, really) developing this new gadget.
Imitation Game - While some scientific minds were trying to win the war with weapons, others were trying to find out what the enemy was saying via cryptography and the breaking of the german cypher. Benedict Cumberbach turns in a great performance as computer pioneer Alan Turing. (The movie Enigma also covers this group as well.)
We could probably devote a whole list of films solely to Winston Churchill - but The Gathering Storm and Into the Storm were both excellent.
So that should do to be getting started with. As I said, this isn’t an exhaustive list - go check your local library to see if there’s more.
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