In “‘Dunkirk’s Stunning Basis in Archival Footage,” Jacob Oller presents a video from Titouan Ropert comparing archival footage and the movie Dunkirk side by side. He, and the video, argue that Christopher Nolan achieved high standards of historical accuracy in the movie in part by relying on archival research. It is surprising yet heartening to see a film studio actually doing historical research and using archives to produce a more accurate film. I’m used to them failing to do any research, and in some cases knowingly contorting history to their own ends. I understand allowing some artistic license in history-based movies, however that should be based off research and not just making stuff up. I find the real story of events is often more interesting than whatever Hollywood can come up with anyway, and there are definitely great stories hidden in the archives that they never explore. Even those movies which mix history and fantasy, where viewers know it isn’t based on reality, could still benefit from historical research and can still mislead viewers about history. If you ask anyone about the battle of Thermopylae, they will know better than to think the events depicted in the 300 movie are strictly accurate. They will realize the depictions of the Persians are pure fantasy. However, they will still think that only 300 Spartans stayed behind and died to protect the passage, when in reality there were 700 Thespian and 400 Theban hoplites who stayed and died with them—well outnumbering the Spartan contingent. The Thebans have a more interesting story than the Spartans as well, as the city had officially allied with the Persians and the Thebans at the pass opposed that decision and could not return to the city if it was conquered, so they chose to fight and die instead. The entire Pirates of the Caribbean series has a similar effect, as viewers know most of it is pure fiction, but still leave with a romaticised view of pirates as some kind of heroes who took on the British Empire in the 1700s. In reality, the golden age of pirates ended in the 1600s, and they preyed almost exclusively on merchant ships, often forcing surrender before any combat ever took place. When confronted with warships, they generally tried to flee rather than fight.While I haven’t seen Dunkirk yet, there is probably some historical inaccuracies involved, but fact they used archives at all is still impressive, and shows at the very least they cared about accuracy. It also benefits the movie to have used archives, since the scenes and setting is more accurate, improving its ability to tell its story. Finally, I wonder if the archives consulted appeared in the credits. Perhaps they were cited in the Chicago Manual of Style?
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