DARKEST HOUR – Review

Gary Oldman (center) stars as Winston Churchill in director Joe Wright’s DARKEST HOUR, a Focus Features release. Photo credit: Jack English / Focus Features ©

Gary Oldman gives an amazing performance as Winston Churchill in director Joe Wright DARKEST HOUR, a riveting drama about Churchill and the earliest darkest days of World War II, as Britain faced the crisis of Dunkirk and invasion by Hitler loomed. The film is an admirable work, a mix of historical drama and biopic, but it is Oldman’s remarkable Oscar-worthy performance that is generating the most attention.

DARKEST HOUR offers more than Gary Oldman’s sterling, stirring performance. It is also a wonderful companion to a couple of other WWII films released this year, DUNKIRK and the less-seen THEIR FINEST HOUR, both set around he same time in Britain. Combined with director Joe Wright’s earlier film ATONEMENT, which contains a riveting depiction of a soldier’s experience pinned down at Dunkirk, these films create a surprisingly rounded picture of an event and time that still resonates, particularly for Brits.

Of the several films about Winston Churchill this year, DARKEST HOUR is by far the best, not only thanks to Oldman but to a well-written script and strong direction. Director Joe Wright has shown great skill in other period films, such as PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and ATONEMENT, and puts those skills to good use here. The film also sports a strong supporting cast and wonderful evocative visual style.

We first see Churchill in typical working mode, in bed having a breakfast that includes whiskey and a cigar, dictating letters to politicians and bullying yet another new young secretary In this case, it is Miss Layton, played by Lily James, who bears the brunt, and the experience nearly leads her to quit her first day. But the situation is saved by Winston’s long-suffering wife Clemmie (the excellent Kristen Scott Thomas), who soothes her and scolds him.

It is 1940, the Nazis are poised to invade Belgium and France is on the brink, the British Parliament has lost confidence in the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup). To gain the support of the opposition, the ruling party must call on an old warhorse, Winston Churchill (Oldman). At 65, the hard-drinking, cigar-smoking rotund politician seems an unlikely pick for leader, and not even King George VI (Ben Mendelsohn) is comfortable with the choice. Churchill, on the other hand, seems to have expected it, and springs into action.

While outgoing prime minister Chamberlain councils peace and wants to negotiate with Hitler, Churchill only talks of war. He knows there is no negotiating with Hitler.

The film evokes the time period brilliantly. Visually, scenes are all in desaturated color, leaning to warm sepia tones. Slanting light filters through smokey interiors and gray exteriors. Faces are half-lit or heavily shadowed, lending an air of classic mystery. The murky look reflects the murky situation in which Britain finds itself in the war.

The film is both atmospheric and intimate, taut with tension. It focuses on showing Churchill’s skill as a speechwriter and inspiring orator. Oldman portrays him as a man of great self-confidence, and a bulldog of determination and unreasoning optimism. The combination inspired the British public but worried his politicians at home and leaders of allied countries, some of whom called him delusional or drunken.

But to lead the British people, Churchill at first misleads them about the situation, painting a hopeful picture when things are actually very grim. So grim that the German’s have driven the bulk of British forces back to Dunkirk, where they are trapped with their backs to the sea. The only nearby troops are at Calais, also in dire conditions.

Dunkirk remains a backdrop to this story, which focuses on Churchill himself, which is why this film dovetails so nicely with the earlier two films, DUNKIRK and THEIR FINEST, both of which highlight the role civilians played in rescuing soldiers. In DARKEST HOURS, the battlefield situation is often portrayed in aerial views, showing bombed landscapes and smashed buildings, while leaders strategize in the underground war room.

Audiences are so used to seeing Gary Oldman in roles playing Americans that they may forget the actor is British. Oldman likely relished the chance to play Churchill, Britain’s great wartime leader. Oldman actually looks nothing like Churchill, yet with the help of makeup, completely disappears into the part and is astonishing convincing. He captures the posture, the pattern of speech, familiar from old recordings, Oldman’s Churchill talks incessantly and insistently, saying to an adversary in one scene, “Stop interrupting me while I’m interrupting you.” In another, he shows one of his famous bursts of temper, shouting “You cannot reason with a tiger when your head is in its mouth,” as he rejects negotiating peace with Hitler.

Churchill’s political adversaries in this struggle are the outgoing prime minister Neville Chamberlain and his supporter Viscount Hallifax (Stephen Dillane). Hallifax declined the office but is helping maneuver Churchill out of it, so Chamberlain can resume his former role.

The dialog is sparkling, with witty quips sprinkled into discussions that reveal the historical situation, the war abroad and political maneuvering at home, and Churchill’s personal life. Scriptwriter Anthony McCarten built his screenplay around three of Churchill’s speeches, culminating with the famous rallying cry “we will never surrender.” McCarten thoroughly researched the man and the events, drawing on the minutes of Churchill’s War Cabinet meetings. The notes revealed moments of doubt or uncertainty unexpected given his confident public image. Privately, Churchill recalled mistakes of the past, and was particularly haunted by World War I and Gallipoli.

Oldman’s Churchill is often bullying, a man of such strong will that even the King admits to being frightened of him, then he surprises us with his sharp sense of humor and sudden kindness, illustrated in a touching scene where his young secretary talks about her soldier brother. Lilly James is perfect in her role, a young woman who at first seems ready to bolt from her challenging job and the later coming to understand and admire the complex, difficult man for whom she works.

Kristen Scott Thomas is simply wonderful as Clemmie Churchill, the only one unafraid of Winston, and the only one able to rally her husband in his private moments of doubt. Her scenes with Oldman are highlights of the film, filled sharp wit and conflict, as well as warmth and romance.

The rest of the cast is good as well, particularly Samuel West as Churchill’s loyal assistant, Sir Anthony Eden and Mendelsohn as the king.

Overall, the film is masterfully crafted, creating character and building tension with a sure hand. The film’s one stumble is an awkward, unconvincing scene in which Churchill makes the far-fetched decision to take the London subway, the Tube, to discuss with ordinary citizens the possibility of peace negotiations with Hitler. While Churchill really did sometimes sneak out to talk to ordinary citizens to get a sense of public opinion, this fictional scene just does not play as real.

DARKEST HOUR is an excellent historical film, one that perfectly captures the time period and critical point in history time, and creates a portrait of a great man at his finest hour, who exemplifies leadership at its best.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars