Dunkirk...

[_Quasimodo]

My wife and I went to see "Dunkirk" last night. If you get a chance, you should see it. It's the most immersive movie I have seen. I had a similar experience the first time I saw "Saving Private Ryan", but this move was even more intense.

We saw it in IMAX. The sound and visual effects were nearly overwhelming. I really felt like I was there. The story is told from three different points of view (storylines) that continually intersperse and converge at the end. Very little dialog. Just a very compelling series of action scenes. Mark Rylance is quickly becoming my favorite actor. He beautifully underplays the owner of one of the fleet of small boats that crossed the English Channel to help save what was left of the British Army.

I found this photo a few weeks ago going through some of my mom's papers. It made me even more interested in seeing this movie.

This is Clarence Edgar Pickering, my second cousin. He was my mom's favorite cousin growing up. They had been friends from childhood. He was killed fighting in the rear guard action that held the Germans back while over 300,000 British troops were evacuated. He left behind a young wife and a baby boy. Most of the British troops were killed or captured in that rear guard action. He died near a small French village called Billy-Montigny. He is buried there.

Thank you, Edgar, for your sacrifice.

[_honorentheos]

I've been hearing it's a great movie that doesn't say much in words yet manages to say more than perhaps any war movie has to date.

And a touching tribute to your family member. As De Gaulle said, the war cemeteries are filled with indispensable men. I think the moral of Saving Private Ryan is the only one possible as a way of honoring them, asking if our lives as lived are worth the price that's been paid.

[_Quasimodo]

I've been hearing it's a great movie that doesn't say much in words yet manages to say more than perhaps any war movie has to date.

And a touching tribute to your family member. As De Gaulle said, the war cemeteries are filled with indispensable men. I think the moral of Saving Private Ryan is the only one possible as a way of honoring them, asking if our lives as lived are worth the price that's been paid.

Thanks, Honor. De Gaulle was quite right. So many wonderful young men were lost in that war and all the other wars. I remember seeing a monument in a very small English village called Bishop Burton (not far from where I was born) the last time I was in England. It had about forty names of young men from there that died in the First World War. Bishop Burton only has about forty homes.

The moral you cleverly pointed out in "Saving Private Ryan" is also quite correct. Time passes and people forget the sacrifices made by their grandfathers. Movies like "Saving Private Ryan" and "Dunkirk" help us remember.

[_MeDotOrg]

I've been hearing it's a great movie that doesn't say much in words yet manages to say more than perhaps any war movie has to date.

And a touching tribute to your family member. As De Gaulle said, the war cemeteries are filled with indispensable men. I think the moral of Saving Private Ryan is the only one possible as a way of honoring them, asking if our lives as lived are worth the price that's been paid.

First of all, thanks for the OP. I really want to see this movie.

I've always thought that DeGaulle's observation about war cemeteries cut 2 ways:

1. That since somehow humanity survived, no man is indispensable.

OR

2. That the future of humanity had been greatly diminished because we lost so many indispensable men.

As far as the second argument goes, I'm sure people are asking how a man could be indispensable if he died. The word indispensable is shorthand for the idea that the world might have lost a cure for cancer, or a scientific breakthrough, or a great writer who would have enriched the world, when millions of men are cut down in their prime.

In short, had some of the men survived, they might now be known as indispensable members of our culture.

[_Chap]

So many wonderful young men were lost in that war and all the other wars. I remember seeing a monument in a very small English village called Bishop Burton (not far from where I was born) the last time I was in England. It had about forty names of young men from there that died in the First World War. Bishop Burton only has about forty homes.

Two comments on this:

1. I am glad you said 'lost in that war', not 'gave their lives'. Some soldiers may perhaps choose do some very brave action in the knowledge that what they are doing is likely to get them killed, even though it is essential that it should be done. Those people do, I suppose, give their lives. Most who die just get killed, after having (quite reasonably and properly) done their best not to be.

2. Few people think that the loss of life in World War I served any good purpose: it was just a conflict that should never have happened. World War II might have been avoided, but once it started the prospect of a victory by the Axis powers was so appalling that the loss of life on the Allied side seems much less pointless than in WW I.

[_subgenius]

In short, had some of the men survived, they might now be known as indispensable members of our culture.

Lucky they weren't aborted, those babies have their indispensable nature determined by choice.....and skull crushing forceps

[_Dr. Shades]

As far as the second argument goes, I'm sure people are asking how a man could be indispensable if he died. The word indispensable is shorthand for the idea that the world might have lost a cure for cancer, or a scientific breakthrough, or a great writer who would have enriched the world, when millions of men are cut down in their prime.

I'm reminded of how J. R. R. Tolkien was a soldier in World War I. Imagine a world utterly bereft of Lord of the Rings, and everything it inspired, had a bullet claimed him as well.

It really makes me wonder what we're currently living without that we otherwise couldn't imagine living without.

[_Chap]

In short, had some of the men survived, they might now be known as indispensable members of our culture.

Lucky they weren't aborted, those babies have their indispensable nature determined by choice.....and skull crushing forceps

Yup. And better do something to rescue those unfortunate fertilised eggs that die because they don't get implanted. So many babies lost that way! Perhaps more than half.

Here are some Catholics getting pretty worried about the consequent problems:

https://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=922842

e.g.

OK, new question: God does everything for a reason, right? What reason do you think he would have for creating millions of little souls who then go right back to him without anyone ever even knowing they existed? Seems like an odd thing to do

[_honorentheos]

As far as the second argument goes, I'm sure people are asking how a man could be indispensable if he died. The word indispensable is shorthand for the idea that the world might have lost a cure for cancer, or a scientific breakthrough, or a great writer who would have enriched the world, when millions of men are cut down in their prime.

I'm reminded of how J. R. R. Tolkien was a soldier in World War I. Imagine a world utterly bereft of Lord of the Rings, and everything it inspired, had a bullet claimed him as well.

It really makes me wonder what we're currently living without that we otherwise couldn't imagine living without.

Well said.

[_Quasimodo]

First of all, thanks for the OP. I really want to see this movie.

I've always thought that DeGaulle's observation about war cemeteries cut 2 ways:

1. That since somehow humanity survived, no man is indispensable.

OR

2. That the future of humanity had been greatly diminished because we lost so many indispensable men.

As far as the second argument goes, I'm sure people are asking how a man could be indispensable if he died. The word indispensable is shorthand for the idea that the world might have lost a cure for cancer, or a scientific breakthrough, or a great writer who would have enriched the world, when millions of men are cut down in their prime.

In short, had some of the men survived, they might now be known as indispensable members of our culture.

You are very welcome, MeDotOrg!

I don't know if Edgar (my mom says he didn't like to be called Clarence) had survived would have contributed much to society, but I'm quite sure that his wife thought of him as indispensable.

I'm also quite sure that his son, Louis, would have loved to have known his dad. I think these things (for the most part) come down to personal relationships. I know that my mom still misses him after all these years. He was much like a brother to her.

Please do see the movie. IMAX if possible.