Darkest Hour (2017)

☆ ☆ ☆

Darkest Hour (2017) – J. Wright

Gary Oldman’s performance as Winston Churchill is probably the only reason to watch this film, which takes place entirely in the days just before and at the start of his first term as prime minister in 1940.  The trademark cigar and hat are there as well as the mannerism (physical and vocal) that you may recall from newsreels, aided by prosthetics, of course.  Oldman remarkably disappears or melds into the famous man.  The screenplay takes us back to the time when Britain was paralysed with indecision about whether to follow Neville Chamberlain’s inclination to engage in peace talks with Hitler or Churchill’s instinct to fight.  We see Churchill’s (rare) moments of self-doubt and his use of rhetoric and strategic thinking (at Dunkirk) to win the argument and take the battle to the Nazis.  Some commentators have suggested that this depiction is a whitewash and that there were many aspects to Churchill (particularly materialising in his second term as PM in 1951) that were ugly.  And truly this is a glorified look at the man – which may be in keeping with Oldman’s reputed right-wing politics (should that matter?).  Secondary characters have basically nothing to do (Lily James is his secretary, Kristin Scott-Thomas is his wife, Ben Mendelsohn is the King).  Of course, knowing what we know about Hitler and the Nazis it is easy to yield to the rousing call to war here but other films have captured this time better (for example, Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, also 2017).  Director Joe Wright tries to spice things up with travelling dolly shots and stylistic lighting/camera angles but, on the whole, the result here is ho-hum, notwithstanding Churchill’s famous speeches.