Darkest Hour (2017) - Review
Originally published December 2018Darkest Hour is a 2-hour dramatic look at a specific moment in history surrounding the events of WWII in its early years and Sir Winston Churchill's actions as prime minister during that time. There have been countless movies made about Churchill and his achievements since he became Prime Minister of Great Britain for the first time. There have been countless more films made about WWII and the dire circumstances in which Churchill was selected for the position—Dunkirk just came out last year, for example. With such a vast library of WWII and Churchill movies to watch over the decades, what does Darkest Hour have to make it stand out in modern cinema?
For one thing, it's got Gary Oldman, who won an Academy Award for his performance. While my opinion of that award's value has become extremely diminished over the years, due to the overly political and biased nature of the Academy, it's still refreshing to see films where the accreditation was rightfully earned. Darkest Hour not only gives Oldman the platform to earn his Oscar but also deserves recognition for some other specific qualities.
Image: Universal Pictures
Pros
Gary Oldman's performance is superb
Supporting cast is just as good at pulling you into the drama, with Kristin Scott Thomas as Clemmie being a real highlight
Color, lighting, cinematography, and editing all work really well together
Some moments of well-written dialogue exchanged between characters in a heated discussion
Cons
Forced emotional or cheesy moments frequently permeate a WWII movie
Most of the big dramatic scenes in Parliament are excessively dramatic in a way that borders on absurd behavior from the various extras in the crowd
Scenes that cut away from the characters to the war effort look rough with some rushed CGI effects; similar to The Imitation Game
Plot & Thoughts
If you don't know your world/European history of the 20th century, World War II was a hard-fought war in which the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and, by extension, Japan had a strong advantage in the beginning. Once war was declared by England and France, it took very little time before Germany swept across the western part of Europe and forced Britain into a corner as the only sovereign nation against them in the war. In the events leading up to the war, Britain's politics were rather soft on Hitler and Nazi Germany in an attempt to control his desires for expansionism through diplomacy. That proved to be a waste of time and had given Hitler enough time to amass the largest army in the world. Thus, the people of Britain and Parliament appointed to the position of Prime Minister: the man who had been calling for the end of Hitler for years. Unfortunately for Churchill, the position was much less glamour and much more stress in attempting to keep the country inspired and the government stable during the early years of the war.
Image: Universal Pictures
Darkest Hour goes over certain key events that took place during the month of May 1940. Despite it only covering a single month of the war, a fair amount happens in that time and we get to see the immense amount of pressure Churchill had to withstand when he took the position of PM. This includes the smaller common moments of trying to get the other politicians on his side, including those conspiring against him, as well as the bigger moments like the evacuation of Dunkirk. In between all of that, Darkest Hour provides a bit of lighthearted, biographical drama to showcase Churchill's personality and his private life in how it was affected by this extremely difficult month of the war.
The main focus of Darkest Hour is Churchill's struggle to get people on his side. The public had already called for him to take the position of Prime Minister by this point, but his own party and his opposition in government thought him too reckless for the job, considering his history of blunders in the past. So, Churchill appoints his opposition to positions of his war council, he convenes with the King, and gives several speeches to Parliament in the hope of inspiring the people against him, along with the general public, to continue to fight the war. A fair amount of this seems to backfire as almost everyone is put off by Churchill's audacity in his words to claim that victory is even a possibility, let alone a certainty. Soon enough, members of his own war cabinet conspire to force him out of office.
Image: Universal Pictures
Gary Oldman's portrayal, while lacking the deep and gruff voice that Churchill had, is nonetheless sublime. His stooped posture, his mannerisms, his speech patterns, and the makeup applied to transform the thin and vibrant Oldman into the pale and pudgy Churchill help sell the performance especially well. There are several specific moments in the film, particularly when Churchill is in his war room, where the dialogue between him and the other officials is well-written and especially well-delivered. Kristin Scott Thomas as Clemmie Churchill is also extremely good when she's on camera and interacting with Oldman. Unfortunately, her role in the film is minor in comparison to other side characters, but she stands out as the other powerful performance of Darkest Hour.
The part where Darkest Hour runs into trouble is in how desperate for an Oscar it is. I had the same issue with The Imitation Game, which, was also a WWII biopic meant to tell a story about an eccentric, somewhat-unlikable person who was able to convince those who hated him that he was right for the job. Darkest Hour, thankfully, takes fewer liberties with history for the sake of trying to add to the drama or push a political agenda, and it ends up with fewer plot holes and unsavory moments as a result.
Image: Universal Pictures
It still, however, has a few dramatic or emotional scenes that were clumsily handled in a way that diminished the intended effect of what was happening. The scenes where Churchill is coming to grips with the decision to send a platoon of men on a suicide mission teeter on the brink of being emotionally effective. However, the shots of the soldiers in action using some poor-looking CGI effects paired with the tears of his assistant—who may be a made-up character for all I know—prevent the scene from drawing out the emotions of the audience in a meaningful way. Similarly, the tone of the film gets overly sentimental and thick with patriotism when he's riding the subway with the commoners and getting the viewpoint that he needs to push himself forward to then give a rallying speech to all the politicians who hate him. It's lame and punctuated with some whimsical orchestral tunes to try to make you cry for their patriotism and heroism, but the sentimentality is so forced—like it is in so many other WWII Oscar-bait bio-pics—it borders on assault.
TL;DR (Conclusion)
Darkest Hour is an entertaining quick look into a single month in the life of an extremely influential man in history during the lowest point of his WWII career. The acting from Gary Oldman along with the supporting cast is all very good. The script has some great moments of well-written dialogue and drama. If you can stomach the occasional forced attempts at emotion that are so common with movies that are desperate for an Academy Award, Darkest Hour is a satisfying 2 hours of your time.
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