Darkest House – Oldman’s finest hour

I’ve just come back from a screening of the new Winston Churchill film, ‘Darkest Hour,’ and I have to say I’m pretty blown away.  It might as well have been a one man show, as Gary Oldman appeared better than ever as the man himself.  It says it’s ‘based on true events’ which is pretty accurate.  Oldman seemed so lifelike and believable as the wartime leader of Britain that sometimes it almost felt like it was a documentary.

It begins a year or so into the Second World War where Britain is already at war with Germany.  Current Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, has lost the confidence of Parliament and the King is forced to allow Churchill to take over the war effort.  I didn’t know much about the film before I watched it (apart from the obvious, i.e. that it was about Churchill) and did assume that it would chart his time in office throughout the entire conflict.  However, it only really focuses on about a month or so of time – I guess the part of the war which could indeed be described as Britain’s ‘darkest hour’ when the British army looked lost, no one was coming to help (the army or the country!) and a deal with Hitler looked like the only way out.

I’d like to think that cinema goers all over the world will appreciate this piece of (dramatic!) history not only for Gary Oldman’s Oscar-worthy performance.  Being British it did stir up just a smattering of national pride, but I’m guessing that won’t be the case for other nationalities.

It’s worth noting that a film so ‘character-based’ (as opposed to simply having superheroes destroying a major city) doesn’t have many special effects or amazing ‘set-pieces,’ however, what sets it up isn’t just Gary Oldman’s acting, but also the make-up team who turned him into the hunched, balding old man he was portraying.

The only thing that irked me about the whole film was one scene near the end.  It felt totally unbelievable and scripted.  It was more like a scene from a romantic comedy where the lead character learns a valuable, life-changing lesson.  I have since Googled it to see other people’s opinions on it and, as I thought, it was a moment of total fiction that was put in to ‘represent’ this defining moment in Churchill’s life.

The film is a couple of hours long, but it certainly sped past for me.  It’s rare that a modern film can capture a person so greatly and it’s all down to Gary Oldman (and also the team of make-up artists!).

9/10 almost as perfect as The Godfather