Director: Joe Wright
By Alex Watson
Gary Oldman plays an outstanding Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. After the horrific failure of Pan, Joe Wright shows why he is still considered one of Britain's best directors. While it might lack the bite needed, this movie is still a fine against-the-clock drama. It also shows the sheer determination and grit of Churchill himself. During a nail-biting period, he was the one voice who was able to carry Britain through.
As WWII wages on, King George VI (Ben Mendelsohn) looks to Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) to help turn the tide. Facing a potential Nazi invasion and catastrophic human casualties, many of his subordinates call for peace talks. Despite overwhelming pressure to relent, Churchill vows for his nation to fight on.
People tend to forget what a controversial appointment Churchill was. Darkest Hour shows a bullish, and old-school fighter who wasn't afraid to throw his weight around. His peers including the overlooked Lord Halifax (Stephen Dillane), view him as stubborn and short-sighted. Throughout Wright's film, we see him fail and his rivals simply sharpened their knives in anticipation. Churchill's refuses to give in because he is the one man in the room who believes in the British fighting spirit. This picture doesn't seek to glorify him and he is also shown as an ill-tempered and completely unpredictable human being. Frequently he is a whirlwind, whether he is dictating letters from his bath or butting heads with opponents in a bunker. His wife Clementine (Kristin Scott-Thomas) is one of the few willing to push back and put him in his place.
Wright does a wonderful job of showing the intense threat that Heir Hitler's men posed. Britain is up against the ropes and men such as Halifax are pressuring him to negotiate a truce. While it might stop the war, Churchill is against making peace with such men as Hitler. Frequently we see the how the strain of the war weighs heavily on him. At times we see a very different and less confident side to the old 'British Bulldog' figure British school children were educated about. However, unlike his anxious colleagues, Churchill is a man who likes to stop and think. His determination of character and refusal to be pushed into a potentially disastrous decision is what makes him so endearing. Halifax is frequently a thorn in his side, but Winston simply plucks him out with one genius line, "Will you stop interrupting me, when I am interrupting you!" he growls vigourously in one scene.
In Darkest Hour it also shows how Churchill was the one man in the room who thought about the cost to the British people. His tactics are frequently put under the microscope. In fact, many of his key decisions come while in the toilet before emerging "in a state of nature". Wright shows his man of the people status in one beautifully underplayed scene. He reminds us in the beginning how out of touch he is with modern day things. On impulse, he chooses to ride the London Tube and unlike other politicians, he simply asks ordinary people what they actually want their government to do? There is no uplifting or grandiose feel to this moment but you gain a bigger respect for this man.
Gary Oldman puts in the performance of his life and is absolutely perfect as Winston Churchill. Under heavy prosthetics, Oldman does a phenomenal job is convey his stubborn and blunt-speaking persona. A growling, heavy drinking and often tactless Prime Minister, Oldman portrays a man only concerned with getting the job, not the obstacles around it. A performance of highest calibre, hopefully, the Academy will finally reward one of the best actors of his generation. Stephan Dillane makes for a fine opponent as the cunning Halifax. Great at playing unyielding men, Dillane once again gives great support. Sadly talented stars such as Ben Mendelsohn and Lily James who plays Churchill's aide Elizabeth Layton feel drastically underused.
Darkest Hour is a movie propped up by the talents of Oldman alone. Few performances this year will be better than this one.
