There has been an interesting trend with war films that have come out in the past few years.  Rather than showing world conflicts from an American perspective, they actually are showing it from a British perspective. These films include works such as “Dunkirk,” “Darkest Hour” and more recently “1917.” Despite not being from our nation’s perspective, these films have done very well here in the United States and have won numerous awards at events such as the Oscars. 

Personally, I think movies filmed in the British perspective is a good thing. The United Kingdom has been one of America’s strongest allies for almost 70 years. While the U.K. would certainly not have been able to liberate Europe from Nazi tyranny without the industrial might of the United States, the British Armed Forces managed to hold the line against all odds, a feat that needs more praise. It is only natural we honor our British comrades.

I think one reason American audiences are enjoying these films is the common culture between America and Britain. Many Americans have British ancestry, go on vacation in the U.K., watch British shows and can’t get enough news of the monarchy. Plus English is our primary language, our government has taken inspiration from the British political system and America used to be part of its empire. There is not much of a cultural difference between our two countries, so it is unsurprising that many Americans flock out to see British war films. 

In the 60’s, many war films came out with a British point of view such as “Zulu,” “55 Days at Peking” and “Khartoum.” The idea now seems to be making a comeback in American cinema.

While I support showing the World Wars from a different perspective, I hope we do not go overboard with the perspectives. In the end, we still need to honor our great nation and its veterans, something we do not do enough. WWII was our union’s finest hour, it allowed us to raise to superpower status and is why our country continues to dominate world affairs.  However, I am perfectly willing to give a toast to our Anglo brethren across the pond.