'We must be very careful not to assign to this the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations'.

This is a quote from Winston Churchill's speech delivered on June 4th, 1940 to the House of Commons.

To read the entire transcript of the speech, click here.

Having reached this section of the museum, you will have discovered that the story of Dunkirk is far bigger than the narrative it has become today. It was only natural in the postwar period that Dunkirk would go on to receive the attention of the film makers; after all, many books had been published on those events.

Films, even back in the 'golden' age of the cinema, were expensive and complex to create. Budgets were a considerable restriction placed on the medium; this, when combined with perceived time limitations of the finished product, saw many potential narratives reduced to a shadow of their former selves. The story of Dunkirk has been no exception; to make a successful film of the events, some aspects needed to be reduced and others increased to fit within the limits of budgets and running time.

It can be argued that, however sympathetic the intentions of those producing and directing the films, the myth of how we now view the events of Dunkirk could in many respects be attributed to the retelling of the story via cinema.

Below are a selection of films made about the events of  Dunkirk. Please click directly on the titles to discover more about them.