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I’ve been trying to recall the last time I saw a historical drama that was as enthralling as Joe Wright’s “Darkest Hour.” I’m stumped. It’s possible that Steven Spielberg’s “Munich” was the film that topped my “10 best” list a dozen years back. Of course, the films are vastly different, and it’s possible that Wright’s film boasts more impressive achievements in a wider range of areas. While Gary Oldman’s phenomenal performance as Winston Churchill had been widely praised in advance, the film’s achievements in the areas of direction, screenwriting, score, and cinematography are astonishingly on par with his performance.
That the same period of British history—a few days in the spring of 1940—has been depicted in two major Oscar-baiting films this year (and even has a cameo appearance in a third film from earlier this year, “Their Finest”) is a strange irony. Both Wright’s film and Christopher Nolan’s film, “Dunkirk,” are instructive companion pieces in their own right. They have different aims, which allows them to effectively orient themselves toward different audiences. “Dunkirk” depicts the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk, France, in the face of a Nazi onslaught in a way that prioritizes sensation over logic; it says nothing about the event’s historical context or significance. The film could have been made entirely with action and no words, whereas “Darkest Hour” is all about words, words as action, and the significance of this seminal event in the history of the world. It requires you to engage on an intellectual level, rather than just viscerally.
However, if it is a history lesson, it is one that is presented in the form of a tightly wound, pulse-racing thriller. And why not: the decisions depicted in the film may have had a profound impact on the course of history. There are two important speeches delivered in the House of Commons, the “Norway Debate” and Churchill’s rousing, epochal “We shall fight them on the beaches” speech, which serve as a backdrop to the action, which takes place between May 8 and June 4, 1940 (the film frequently slams the dates at us in big block letters). In the interim, Churchill is appointed Prime Minister because he is the only member of his party who is acceptable to the opposition, and he rallies the country to fight Hitler when other politicians want to make a pact with the dictator.
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Understanding the significance of the events in this story is difficult today because it is difficult to see the world of 1940 through the eyes of those who lived through it then. Although the Germans had conquered several European countries, the slaughter of the continent’s Jews had been completely unexpected, and Hitler was widely regarded as a highly effective authoritarian ruler (a quality that some non-Germans frustrated by dithering democrats frankly admired) rather than a murderous madman. It was Churchill’s ability to see the truth more clearly than others at this time that distinguished him from his contemporaries. He recognized both the absolute necessity and the arduous difficulty of fighting the Nazi regime to the bitter end.
Darkest Hour Quiz
The title of the film is completely accurate. As a result of the German threat to annihilate Britain’s army prior to the Dunkirk evacuation (which is only alluded to rather than depicted here), and Churchill’s subsequent hearing that President Franklin Roosevelt would decline to assist the British because of anti-interventionist sentiment in Congress, the United Kingdom found itself in a very dark and lonely place very quickly. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Churchill’s main adversaries in this drama, Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup) and Lord Halifax (Stephen Dillane), encouraged Mussolini to negotiate a deal with Hitler that could have spared Britain from invasion and potential mass murder. After being persuaded by Winston Churchill’s arguments, even King George VI (Ben Mendelsohn) was open to dealing with the devil.
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A cartoon hero or a plaster saint, Winston Churchill is not the Winston Churchill we see in this photograph. Wright’s film, like the recent, wretched “Churchill” (which was as roundly condemned by historians and Churchill experts as “Darkest Hour” has been praised), acknowledges the dark stain on Winston Churchill’s public career that the battle of Gallipoli in World War I represented, but does not make it a psychological millstone for the leader. Also frequently shown are the perspectives of the protagonist’s acerbic but supportive wife, Clemmie (the brilliant Kristin Scott Thomas), and his young, perpetually harried secretary, Elizabeth (also played by Kristin Scott Thomas) (Lily James). However, the dramatic sharpness and historical intelligence of Anthony McCarten’s script, which portrays Churchill as a man drawn into dynamic action by the looming shadow of Hitler’s evil, set the tone for the film’s portrayal of Churchill.
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It’s a sublime invention, but it comes at the end of the film, after Churchill has navigated the treacherous political waters necessary to win the support of his war cabinet: a scene in which he leaps out of his stuck-in-traffic limousine, boards the Underground, and listens to a car full of ordinary Londoners express their support for his war objectives. The film succeeds in part because of the spunky charm and thoroughgoing excellence of Gary Oldman’s performance (which deserves every award it will inevitably win), and it succeeds in part because of the spunky charm and thoroughgoing excellence of Gary Oldman’s performance (which deserves every award it will inevitably win).
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The striking collaboration between Joe Wright and cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, who together create a very nuanced and engaging balance of light and shadow, eloquent movement and meditative stasis, is characterized by a similar level of excellence. Delbonnel’s work, in my opinion, surpasses even the cinematography of “Dunkirk” to emerge as the best cinematography of the year thus far. Wright’s team also benefits from the lyricism of Dario Marianelli’s score, which is understated but effective.
It’s important to remember that the events that led up to the tense drama depicted in “Darkest Hour” haven’t been completely erased. “Appeasement,” a term coined by Churchill’s predecessor, Neville Chamberlain, will be forever associated with the term “appeasement,” which hardliners use at every opportunity these days to denounce attempts to negotiate with despotic regimes and rulers. Wright’s film, on the other hand, indirectly makes the point that not every tinpot dictator is a Hitler, and that not every posturing, hawkish politician is a Winston Churchill. In fact, certain eras and men are truly exceptional, which is why a film like “Darkest Hour” stands apart from more conventional historical dramas in the first place.
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