Papers in the air
One of the first images in the film is a group of soldiers walking through the abandoned village of Dunkirk, as papers fall from the sky. It is a haunting image, in that the abandoned town suggests that a place usually filled with people has been deserted as a result of the war. The paper falls down from the sky in showers, like a strange snowfall. However, when the soldiers open the papers to read them, they have a threatening message from the Germans. The contrast between the beauty of the shots and the eeriness of the image's meaning strikes an ambiguous tone.
Passing a destroyer
Soon after Moonstone leaves England, Mr. Dawson and the two boys pass by a carrier with hundreds of soldiers going back home. The image is sobering in that it shows a defeated army, soldiers with crushed morales, disheartened by their retreat from France. The civilians—Dawson, George, and Peter—clean-cut and unmarred by war experience, look up at the dusty-faced soldiers, who have seen great horrors during their service.
Oil
After a destroyer gets hit by another German bomb, a number of soldiers abandon ship, as it spills oil into the ocean. Tommy and Alex also get caught in the oil spill, just as Dawson's boat is arriving on the scene. The image of the blue waters of the English channel, filled with oil-covered soldiers, is an evocative and somewhat disturbing image that represents the wretchedness of war.
Drowning man
As prospects look bleaker and bleaker, some of the men grow desperate, trying everything they can to escape. When escape seems impossible, however, some men begin to take their own lives. While sitting on the beach after being brought back from the sinking destroyer in lifeboats, Alex, Tommy, and Gibson watch as a man walks into the ocean to drown himself. The image is disturbing and simple, and the event is not discussed by the characters. Rather, the image speaks for itself, representing the desperation of the soldiers.
