Darkest Hour chronicles the possibly worst first two weeks on any job in the history of the world when Winston Churchill, played by Gary Oldman, becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as the Nazis seize Europe, and the last country standing is his. Believe the hype! Oldman completely disappears into the role that he may have won the coveted Mel Gibson Forgiveness Award, which even Gibson has failed to fully secure, from Google as his problematic real life statements and actions are pushed deeper and deeper into the search results. Even I’m rationalizing and revising history that maybe Oldman was just trying to be provocative, he is THAT good.
If you can see Darkest Hour in theaters, you should because Joe Wright has made a timeless and textured masterpiece germane to our current moral and political landscape that surpasses such films as Dunkirk and The Post in terms of substance and directing. The movie judiciously explodes in sound, color and light and has a momentum that most historical biopics do not. The film poses the question of how should the United Kingdom act in the face of the Nazi threat: by trying to make peace and live or by fighting and possibly facing certain death but keeping their soul. Wright knows that the only villain is Nazi Germany and depicts both sides as being reasonable in the face of this threat instead of reducing Chamberlain to the punk of history. He even ups the ante by personifying resistance in Churchill, a man who may not be ready for primetime. Wright and Oldman humanize Churchill instead of deifying him, and in the process, emboldens the viewer into believing that if a magnificent orator, but severely flawed man with a lot of work, support and vision can rise to the occasion, we can too, especially since our circumstances are not yet as dire.
I found Darkest Hour’s Churchill extremely likable. He spends quality time in bed with his cat. If he has to meet regularly with someone who does not like him, but possesses the best of everything, why not meet for lunch, eat all his good food and drink all his good alcohol. He sneaks food to dogs. He understands his limitations and is willing to accept criticism and advice, especially from his wife, played by the perfect Kristin Scott Thomas. He spends a good portion of the film in the bathroom because he is facing the Nazis!
Darkest Hour asks what kind of leader will Churchill become. By his own admission, he has little practical knowledge. He is somewhat repulsive. The King, played by the eternally superb and unrecognizable Ben Mendelsohn, whom most viewers may know from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but I was introduced to in Animal Kingdom, wipes his hand immediately after shaking Churchill’s hand. His assistant has to work with Churchill as he is on the toilet. He walks around in his night shirt with no drawers. During a birthday toast, his son swiftly swigs alcohol to keep his mouth occupied instead of making a rude remark. He is willing to lie to people to create the reality that he wants and bats away facts that do the same. His knowledge of war is outdated. He is unprofessional and given to outbursts. His closest political allies, Halifax, played by Stephen Dillane, whom most viewers know from Game of Thrones as Stannis and is playing against type in this film, can’t stand him and think that he has forgotten the trauma of World War I. Churchill has gotten people killed in war before. The movie makes it seem extremely unlikely that this is the guy for the job visually by braiding images of the work leading up to his historic speech, the historic speech and what is actually happening in the real world. On one hand, showing his process lightens the tone of the film, but on the other, the gap between reality and rhetoric in the middle of the movie is sinister and alarming, painted in red. Their blood cries out.
Darkest Hour suggests that because Churchill was willing to listen to his boss, the King and the people, and actually cared about the fate of the people, including the troops, whom he saw as more than pieces on a chessboard, he eventually became the leader who is historically respected and succeeded against all odds. “You are strong because you are imperfect. You are wise because you have doubts.” He becomes a leader willing to tell the truth and fight. The film does an excellent job of making this now historical certainty unlikely and implausible so the journey to becoming the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is riveting and never feels like painting by numbers. In reality, Churchill was always pro war against the Nazis and needed no morale boost from God in the form of the divine right of kings, but he did often pop up in random places and meet with the people though the particular moment in the film did not necessarily happen.
Filmmakers like Nolan in Dunkirk willfully ignore actual historical events and people to create ahistorical moments that alienate potential viewers whereas Darkest Hour uses postmodern touches that reflect conceivable moments in the past to resonate with its audiences and provide an emotional entry point into the story. Elizabeth Layton, Churchill’s secretary, did not start working with him until later, but she acts as a surrogate to the audience so we can relate to how an ordinary person would feel if they had to work with him. Her growth as a cowed assistant to a respected right hand occurs suddenly but believably as she borrows the power of the message that she holds from the King to the momentum of events around her to gain entry into exclusive spaces, important plot points in films like Hidden Figures and Wonder Woman. The train scene acts in a similar way (hey, Marcus) and makes Churchill’s warm responses to these encounters more vindication that his martial course is the right one. The real war cabinet is outside of the bunker.
I chose to watch Darkest Hour instead of the 2018 State of the Union. On the day that Presidon’t decided not to implement sanctions, the day before the 2018 State of the Union, a Russian jet intercepted an American patrol plane in international airspace over the Black Sea. If paired with I Am Not Your Negro, Darkest Hour paints a side of the US that we like to pretend does not exist. We would prefer to believe that we are Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek, not a country more concerned with the letter of the law, than the spirit of the law, a country quite comfortable with the Swastika and the Confederate flag, but uncomfortable taking a stand against evil if the law is unjust. We say thoughts and prayers and believe in daily human blood sacrifices of the innocent instead of using our power to defend the defenseless. We take money, but give nothing in exchange. Our suggestion to use horses may have sparked the civilian solution to Dunkirk, but it suggests that if Churchill asked US what we should do, our response would not be to never give up, but always surrender to peace, security and comfort, worship the idol of gold.
I choose to act like Churchill. When Hitler’s voice is blaring through speakers in a room, he shuts the door. When Hitler’s voice is shouting in his head, Churchill “mobilized the English language and sent it into battle” and bombastically drowns out Hitler’s voice in his own head and extinguishes the fear it sparked in his people’s hearts. He never entertains the voice of Satan because to listen to the father of lies is to become vulnerable to attack. “Nations that go down fighting rise again. And those that surrender tamely are finished.” Are we finished or are we resisting?