Darkest Hour [4K UHD]

Loved it!The film is immediately captivatingI was caught as soon as I saw Churchill's opening scene - in bed with a cigar 😂Gary Oldman at his best!If you liked the Shakespearean side of Sirius Black or the stern grit of Commissioner Gordon, then this is performance for you.Historical Accuracy - questionable but accurate overall - costumes and sets were incredible!The script is engaging and hilarious in the sharp British sense.

As someone interested in history, but who is not a scholar, I decided to do a bit of homework before watching the movies Dunkirk (2017) (BD) [Blu-ray] and Darkest Hour. I looked them up on the Internet, using resources like Wikipedia to simply get the gist of what was going on, historically, so I might better grasp the dramatizations created in the two movies. I watched Dunkirk first, and Darkest Hour a few days later.Because I was so bowled over by both movies, I can confidently recommend that these films be watched back to back, because they cover the same period, both specifically (Dunkirk – one event) and generally (Darkest Hour – about a nation’s resolve, leading into the war years). Conversely, the action of Dunkirk is seen through the eyes of an “everyman” character, a soldier among many soldiers, sailors and airmen, mostly nameless, but who made up the forces, which eventually helped England, defend itself from Hitler’s massive assault machine during World War II. Because they had been successfully evacuated from the encircled Dunkirk, British forces were able to regroup and come back stronger. Had this event not occurred, they might have been largely wiped out, and the war could have had an entirely different and deeply tragic conclusion.Meanwhile, Darkest Hour takes up the story from the perspective of Winston Churchill, portrayed brilliantly by Gary Oldman, who deservedly won the 2017 Best Actor Oscar for this film, along with his wife, his young secretary, members of the British Parliament, and even the King.Dunkirk is a mesmerizing and relentless portrayal of a turning point in a battle that was very nearly lost. In case readers here want to be kept in suspense, I won’t reveal its climactic moments, but this same time in history is briefly visualized in Darkest Hour. Both films have incredibly moving sequences. The aerial dogfights in Dunkirk were made real by the filmmakers’ refusal to turn them into some kind of Star Wars, breakneck-speed fest. It’s clear by the fine details that these airmen were working with technology quite primitive by today’s standards. Because we are invited into their cockpits through the use of beautifully calculated camera close-ups, their heroism becomes palpable, and we sweat and grit our teeth and hold on to our seats as if we were in there with them. Two scenes in the final half hour of Dunkirk may resonate with some viewers long after the movie is over. They did me, not to mention the breathtaking cinematography (shots of the beaches from the air, with thousands of men lined up to be rescued while the Germans continued their bombing raids, are among the most memorable scenes in the movie).While Dunkirk is saturated in tones of aqua, blue, pale yellow, green and white, Darkest Hour uses warm browns and sepias, with accents of red, orange, navy blue and beige. It is another animal entirely, but is a perfect counterpoint, dramatically and emotionally, to Dunkirk. Churchill, I learned from my research, was a tremendously complex individual, with a history of both failures and successes in various leadership roles. He had detractors as well as champions. While other portions of his life and career apparently revealed him as a deeply flawed human being, what Darkest Hour makes clear is that he was a tremendous communicator, and it was much to his credit that England did not surrender, but fought to the bitter end, and with the help of its allies, arose triumphant. Now I’m not knowledgeable enough to speculate that the British Empire would have triumphed over the Nazis if America had not finally been sucked into the war. But Darkest Hour pulls out all the emotional stops as it races toward its conclusion, and I was left with both tears and renewed astonishment at the fortitude of a small nation’s resilience, sacrifice and determination – all foreshadowed in the speeches of Winston Churchill. Darkest Hour is not an action film, and yet compared to Dunkirk, it seems to be over much, much faster. Personally, I attribute this to the extraordinary Gary Oldman. This is surely his finest hour on the Big Screen!Each of these two movies is stronger, I think, because of the existence of the other. The prime message that I took from this pair of fine films was not so much some notion of the “glory of war,” but just how valuable and hard won is the peace. During World War II, Hollywood movies seem to have been created as rallying cries to the battlefield and to victory, with manly men proudly marching into danger and destruction, and sturdy women working in the factories and keeping “the home fires burning” – and these entertainments often fulfilled their purpose. Dunkirk and Darkest Hour accomplish something a bit different – to remind us of the necessity of shared sacrifice, so important when the world faced down the “Great Dictator,” but which seems almost like a foreign, impossible concept now. I don’t see any leaders today who have the strength of character of a Winston Churchill, who can help us put aside our petty differences and to see ourselves as a nation with common goals, a society capable of achieving some kind of unity while remaining free. Woe to us if we ever have to face another Hitler!

Gary Oldman is an excellent actor and I have enjoyed several of his films like Bram Stoker's Dracula, Air Force One, the Batman films as Commissioner Gordon and as Smiley in the remake of Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy (originally Alec Guiness which is also very good). In Darkest Hour, I feel he surpasses his acting ability compared to his other films. To me, he brought Churchill to life, in the way he spoke, his physical mannerisms, his dress, being a hard drinker and heavy smoker, showing his frailties, which made him stronger and determined to show he was right about "that man", whom Chamberlain was arrogantly blind to believe his "signed paper" he brings to England, after meeting "that man" was their salvation, yet the country was still Blitzed. The kindness he shows to his secretary when he takes her to the map room to show her Dunkirk explaining the, what and why, and he feels the pain that she and other Londoners are experiencing. The sets are very well done and the filming in darker lighting enhanced the scenes of the war, and meetings between Churchill and other officials, and the one with King George VI where they each state their belief and trust in each other. I have watched the film three times now, and still enjoy it as much as the first viewing. My favorite scene is of Churchill finishing his speech in Parliament to the cheers and he starts walking out of the chamber, it was not Oldman I saw, but Churchill. I was eleven when I got to see Churchill's funeral on TV, something I have not forgotten. I highly recommend the film. UPDATE: Just finishing reading some other comments about this film. I do agree with some statements that Churchill was a determined man with his opinions already set in place, would not bow to anyone, whether political opponents or family members, though I am sure that he had some moments, where he thought long and hard on many issues. Some aristocratic/political heads deemed him a traitor to his own aristocratic class. No head of state/country will ever please every citizen, every time in everything. Another reviewer made the comments about how Gary Oldman as Churchill was made to look older than what he really was, so I would have to give that is correct. Churchill still had hair and was a bit chubby but not obese. As to historical accuracy, well, Hollywood films are for the sole purpose of "entertainment" not "educational" value, to which, one would watch a documentary on History Channel. But for purpose of movie entertainment, I still enjoyed the film and Oldman's performance. I have not seen the Albert Finney version, but some reviewers suggest that it is a good one.