Darkest Hour is an Oscar-contending war drama biopic on Sir Winston
Churchill (Gary Oldman), which focuses on his early days as Prime Minister as World
War II rages. With the British
Expeditionary Forces cornered in Dunkirk, threatened to be wiped out, and the
surrender of France inevitable, the odds of Hitler invading Great Britain are extremely
high. Thus, it’s up to Churchill to rally
his people as they face their “darkest hour.”
Churchill is one of my most
favorite historical figures ever. In my
opinion, he’s sort of the Abraham Lincoln of the British people. Thus, it was easy for Darkest Hour to catch my interest.
It’s worth noting that it’s
obvious that Gary Oldman’s performance is screaming “I want to win the Oscar!” But it doesn’t make him less deserving of it as
his apparent Oscar-baity motivations, with the help of impeccable prosthetic
and makeup, did fuel a believable, mesmerizing performance. In the same case with Daniel Day-Lewis
portraying Abraham Lincoln in 2012’s Lincoln,
I think Oldman had also made the role his own, making it quite difficult for
other actors to play Churchill more notably and definitively in the near future
(though, for the record, DDL is far brilliant in Lincoln than Oldman in Darkest
Hour, and Lincoln is a superior
film to Darkest Hour). So, though I have no horse in this race, I
think I will be most happy if Oldman wins Best Actor in the upcoming Academy
Awards.
Other notable performances are from
Kristin Scott Thomas (as Clemintine Churchill), Ben Mendelsohn (as George VI),
and Lily James (Elizabeth Layton, Churchill’s secretary).
Though I don’t think it’s as
beautiful and strong as another important World War II film of 2017, Dunkirk, I really like Darkest
Hour all in all. Aside from the superb acting,
it also boasts excellent production value, arresting shots, and a very worthwhile narrative packed with very moving scenes and themes.
It’s an inspiring film about great
leadership and the value of remaining steadfast when there’s tremendous reason
to fear and waver and give up -- embracing difficulty, when the cause is noble, over peace,
when the price for it is compromising with tyranny. I don’t know how much modern British audience
will appreciate Darkest Hour. But for me, a fan of their history and
culture, the film reminds me of one thing I’ve admired about them: how they, as embodied by prominent Britons like Churchill, used to be the proudest, most honorable, and most tenacious nation in Europe at
one point (at the present, it’s looking to be the Poles) who boldly dare to make a
stand, even when alone and at the brink of annihilation.
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