Dunkirk Review Cole Sparks ‘24

Dunkirk Reivew

Cole Sparks ‘24

In May 1940, World War Two was underway as Germany advanced in France. On the beaches of Dunkirk (a port town in France), German forces have trapped Allied troops, who wait for evacuation. Over four hundred thousand allied troops are trapped, as the only way out is by sea. As they wait for ships to come for evacuation, the German forces are bombing the allies. This dire situation leads the British Navy to try to get every single operational boat they have in an attempt to mass evacuate. It’s every man for themselves, as the British get first dibs on the transport ships. This remarkable story is experienced through four different lenses in Christopher Nolan’s 2017 film Dunkirk.

The films follows the path of four differing members of the British armed forces: a British Commander, a soldier trapped on the beach, two British air force pilots, and a group of civilians who are part of the evacuation effort. British Commander Bolton, who is the top British officer on the beach, is worried that the soldiers on the beach are sitting ducks, and he makes it his goal to bring back as many soldiers as possible. The Royal Air Force Spitfires are locked in dog fights with German planes, trying to protect their soldiers on the beach while also having to frequently refuel. Tommy tries to evacuate the beach by helping an injured soldier, but the boat he tries to get on is bombed by German forces. Mr. Dawson, his son, and his friend are on a small boat in an effort to evacuate some British troops.

As historical movies go, Dunkirk is pretty good. It gets the main events right so that there aren’t any glaring holes in the movie. Christopher Nolan, the director, focuses heavily on the experience of the people living through Dunkirk, and this makes the movie hit closer to home. To this effect, he showcases the terror of being sitting ducks as if the viewer could imagine laying on a beach as planes and artillery rained down death. He also shows

many shell-shocked and mentally broken down soldiers, a harsh reality of war. Another accuracy of Dunkirk was the focus on airplane fuel. The Royal Air Force wasn’t able to work

to the best of its abilities because of the plane’s range, as planes had to conserve fuel and could only help for an hour before having to refuel. According to survivor’s stories, most of them never saw any RAF planes above them because they were only there for a short period of time before leaving again. Lastly, the part about the British being evacuated first and then the French was very accurate. The policy was that because it was British ships who were evacuating, they got off first. This led to many fights between Allied forces, with men desperate to be evacuated hopelessly trying to board the ship. As for inaccuracies in Dunkirk, they are few. Most characters were made up, but based on a real life counterpart. For example, Captain William Tennant is who Commander Bolton is inspired by. Tennant was instrumental in the Dunkirk evacuation, planning of D-Day, and fighting the Japanese Navy. There is also no mention of African or Indian fighters, both

of whom were key in delaying the German Attack. The Royal Indian Army Service Corps was important on the beaches of Dunkirk, but also in North Africa and the Middle East, something that would’ve been good to mention as they were major in World War Two. Because of its quality historical accuracy and its jam-packed action, Dunkirk is a mustwatch.

Historical Accuracy Score: 4.5/5

DATA ANALYSIS

Student Loan Forgiveness and Inflation

Max Wagner ‘23, Ernest Lai ‘25, Wesley Zhu ‘25

During his term, President Biden has faced various problems, ranging from global pandemics to human rights. Among those was the continued battle against education costs, which have been steadily rising over the years. Inflation has also been an issue with large effects on the nation. In the past year, American inflation rates have skyrocketed to 8.2% in 2022 (Statista). For this edition of The Podium, we decided to ask Belmont Hill about their stance on Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, which aids millions of Americans who have been affected by

college borrowing following the pandemic and on the high rates of inflation currently being felt in the United States.

Earlier this year, President Biden announced the creation of a program in which the federal government will cancel up to $20,000 of student loans debt per person. The proposal has been mired in controversies so we asked the Belmont Hill community about their views on the plan. The first question evaluated the school’s general stance towards the student loan forgiveness bill, gauging how many people supported the plan in the form of a yes or no question. The result was split down the middle, with about 45% of respondents

supporting the plan, and 45% opposing it. The remaining 10% largely responded with “unaware” or “unsure”. These results were similar to the polling results of American voters, where the results were virtually equal for each side. In addition, when asked if they saw rising educational expenses as a major problem of society, a strong majority of 75% of respondents voted “yes”, while a little over

20% voted “no”. The fact that nearly 75% of respondents saw educational expenses as a major problem, but only 45% supported Biden’s student loan forgiveness bill, could suggest that though educational costs are acknowledged as an issue, people at Belmont Hill do not think Biden’s plan handles it well. This theory could be further confirmed as almost 15% of the BH community was very dissatisfied with Biden’s handling of the financial situation as a whole,

but less than 3% were very satisfied. However, it is worth noting that when the entire chart is taken into account, the collective percent of people who voted “satisfied” or “very satisfied” was roughly the same as those who voted “dissatisfied” or “very dissatisfied”, both around 30%; The majority (41%) of people stayed neutral. Overall, this section of the poll helped illustrate Belmont Hill’s overall views towards Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.

The second section of our Fall 2022 Podium Poll focused on President Biden, the American economy, and inflation. Of responses, 76% of survey participants had heard of President Biden’s student loan relief plan, and of those, 49% of respondents supported the plan, while 45% opposed it. However, 74% of respondents did believe that rising costs of education and student loan amounts were a major problem for society, while only 21% disagreed. Unsurprisingly, of those who support Biden’s plan, 92% believe the costs of education are a major issue, while only 55% of those who oppose it believe the same. 61% of respondents believed that the plan will in fact drive up inflation, most of whom oppose the plan. On the other hand, 39% of those who support the plan believe it will not drive up inflation, as compared to 35% who believe it will. Of the respondents, 41% said they were overall neutral in terms of satisfaction with Biden’s handling of the US financial system, while 42% said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied, and 16% said they were satisfied or very satisfied. 96% of respondents stated that they have heard of inflation and its rise in the US and the rest of the world. On a scale of 1-5, respondents rated inflation at an average of 4.17 in importance as a problem for the US and the world at large. No students rated it as an importance of under 3 out of 5, and 88% of respondents rated it at

least a 4 out of 5. This survey has helped us to better understand Belmont Hill’s views on two of the biggest political issues facing America in 2022. Both educational costs and inflation are a deep economic burden for most Americans and solutions to both are necessary. The federal government’s approach on both of these issues has been heavily scrutinized and we wanted to hear from Belmont Hill students and teachers. Both inflation and educational expenses are big issues that likely will not go away any time soon.

MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS