When context counts

LETTERS

Re: Don’t mention the war, Conrad Black, July 29

I agree with Conrad Black’s take on Chris Nolan’s newly released version of Dunkirk. I’ve been eagerly anticipating this movie for some time but after reading Mr. Black’s column, I’m prepared to be disappointed. Evidently, Nolan has omitted much of the important political context of one of the key events of the opening round of the Second World War. Nolan apparently thought much of this context was ( as Conrad quotes): “not relevant to today’s audiences.” Nonsense!

At its core, the Second World War was the culmination of a contest between three dominant political ideologies of the day: Fascism (in its National Socialist guise in Germany), communism and democracy. In the spring of 1940, the existence of the latter — at least in Europe — hung in the balance. Without this understanding, Dunkirk, like the charge of the Light Brigade nearly 100 years before, makes for a great heroic epic but of marginal import historically. I share Black’s pessimism regarding the probable paucity of “under 40s” who are fully aware of how much was really at stake at Dunkirk in May of 1940.

For those who would consign the historical/political context of the world’s major conflicts of the past century to irrelevancy, especially for the sake of political correctness, the cliché — those who don’t learn from history … comes immediately to mind. The same kinds of circumstances that prevailed in Europe and gave rise to the greatest conflict in human history can happen again. Don’t believe me — open your eyes and take a good look around the world.

P. S. I’m still going to see the movie. I love a good war story as much as the next bloke.