Put the Oscar on ice for Gary Oldman.
I spent a cold Christmas afternoon, taking in “Darkest Hour,” English film director Joe Wright’s brilliant depiction of Winston Churchill during the early stages of World War II, specifically, May, 1940, when a menacing Nazi Germany loomed large and all seemed lost.
It was hard to believe the mesmerizing performance unveiled by Mr. Oldman was really the same actor who portrayed Sid Vicious in “Sid and Nancy” and the corrupt cop, Jack Grimaldi, in “Romeo is Bleeding.”
But through creative makeup enhancements and prosthetics, viewers found themselves lost in who was really behind the mask. For all they knew, they were transported back in time, when Britain was indeed on the brink of capitulation, led by a new wobbly Prime Minister, who had failed miserably during the ill-fated Gallipoli Campaign (the Allied powers botched attempt to control the sea route from Europe to Russia during World War I) and for supporting Edward VIII during the Abdication Crisis.
Unlike a number of productions about Churchill during this tumultuous period in Britain’s history, the movie doesn’t attempt to be a complete history of World War II, (from vanquished to victor), but instead, focuses on the intense days of May and June, 1940, during Churchill’s finest hours.
Before deciding how to defend England at the time of its greatest peril, Winston Churchill must confront enemies in his own backyard first, namely, deposed British PM Neville Chamberlain (forced to resign for being too weak on national security) and Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, both of whom are trying to box Churchill into a corner to seek a peace treaty with Germany (with Italy serving as an intermediary) before it’s too late.
Initially, even a jittery King George VI (a k a Bertie) offers heeded suggestions to No. 10 Downing Street that a peace treaty might be the Island’s most viable option.
Just as a bewildered, grief stricken, Churchill gives his reluctant ascent to the War Cabinet to consider peace talks with the Nazi dictator, the “Miracle of Dunkirk” fell from the heavens.
“Operation Dynamo,” as it was called, involved the use of civilian boats —rescuing more than 300,000 British troops from the beaches and harbor of Dunkirk, in the north of France, between May 26 and June 4, 1940.
It was a major game changer for Churchill; the wind now at his back and the people of Britain solidly behind him to prosecute the war against the wrath of Nazism, punctuated, of course, by his thunderous speech to the House of Commons of the Parliament on June 4, 1940 , with the highly celebrated words, ``we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender…”
As captivating as it was, one particular scene of “Darkest Hour” however, caught me off guard.
That was when Churchill, perplexed as he was, whether to retreat or surrender, decides to ride the London Underground (the Tube) in order to canvass public opinion about what his next course of action should be.
The proud citizens of London, give the PM the answer he was desperately looking for: A resounding call to arms; Britain will never surrender, they’ll fight to the death.
The first thing I did when I got home was to email some British historians, to check if “The Tube” scene matched with reality, since I never heard of it before.
It wasn’t long before answers flew back into the inbox of my gmail account.
Patrick Allitt, Professor of History at Emory University, responded that he thought “the Tube scene is pure invention, and highly uncharacteristic of the real Churchill, who was an unashamed elitist, and would never have bothered to consult ordinary citizens.”
Allitt did think the strongest part of the film was its depiction of just how desperate Britain's situation was by May 1940, and “how reasonable the position of Chamberlain and Halifax must have seemed at the time.”
British historian and journalist, Andrew Roberts, informed me that not only did Churchill never ride the Tube, but that King George VI never visited him at No. 10 Downing Street (as portrayed in the film) to tell him he had a change of heart, and wanted him to defend the Island against Nazi tyranny.
Rosemary Haskell, Professor of English at Elon University, believes the fictitious Tube scene was a "crib from Shakespeare's play Henry V, where the King goes in disguise among his soldiers before the Battle of Agincourt, to find out what the common people are feeling about him." "Nothing I have ever read about Churchill," Haskell says, "mentions any such action, and it really doesn't fit in with what we know of Churchill's personality and character. "
Haskell additionally contends “the director [Joe Wright] and script writer [Anthony McCarten] were trying to find a way to explain how and why Churchill got his cabinet (and Parliament) to agree to continue the fight and to evacuate the troops from Dunkirk. I thought it was a pretty clumsy device---a kind of get out of jail free card for the viewer. (It would have been too difficult, apparently, to dramatize the subtleties of what actually happened.) “
Meanwhile, British historian and professor of History at the University of Exeter, Richard Overy, replied that he hasn't seen the film, but was one of two consultants brought in to discuss the script and brief the actors. "The version we saw, Overy informed me, “was full of errors and inventions (including the story of Churchill in the Underground), but I could see that the producers were indifferent to our criticisms. I've had many experiences where fact has had to bow to fiction."
A number of historians did tell me in light of “Darkest Hour” taking some dramatic liberties in its portrayal of Britain and Churchill during the May crisis, one book came highly recommended, “Five Days in London, May, 1940” by John Lukacks , which provides an excellent historical account of the uneasy days, from May 24 to May 28, 1940, as the members of the British War Cabinet debated whether to negotiate with Hitler or to thrust themselves into a long, bloody war with Germany.
Though “Darkest Hour,’’ did bend the truth, here and there, as so many historical dramas tend to do, I think the thrust of the movie was spot on. Churchill found himself backed up against the wall during those anxious days of May, and the future of Britain’s liberty and independence was very much in doubt, before the tide turned in her favor.
Of all the films I’ve seen English actor, Gary Oldman in, “Darkest Hour,” arguably, was his “Finest Hour!”
-Bill Lucey
January 3, 2018
Nice story. Winston Churchill is not accurately portrayed in Darkest Hour. In the film, he is an inspiring, confident leader of a beleaguered country and humanity’s last hope against Hitler and the Nazis. The character is written as a cantankerous but lovable old man with a stubborn sort of courage and immense love for his nation.
Posted by: David Schillo | 09/13/2018 at 08:40 AM