10 thoughts on “Darkest Hour (2017) in Depth

  1. I’m glad you got a screener for this, then! I actually watched it twice in theaters—once by myself and once with a friend. I knew the subway scene was pretty preposterous (although I wouldn’t put Churchill above using the ‘intel’ from it the way he was portrayed to), but overall I felt there was a significant attention to detail that really shone through in a lot of ways. The costumes were one—I LOVE Clemmie’s look (and her character, which was really well done). The way that they managed to get a lot of characterization in both directly and indirectly without making it a simple heroes-and-villains was another. And they included women in ways that made sense historically and made them fleshed out characters. They also touched lightly and deftly on Churchill’s lifelong battle with depression, which I appreciated. I wasn’t surprised to see Oldman doing well the awards this season. And it’s an interesting companion piece to Dunkirk—similar events but one giving us the unknown “common man” experience, and one demystifying the “great man” of history.

    1. Apparently, some of the script was inspired by Churchill’s diaries, which helps give it that inside view. And, of course, Oldman studied the real person in depth. This one deserves all the awards it’s gotten so far & more!

      1. That doesn’t surprise me. :-) I hope we get more biopics in this sort of vein. I really thought they captured the era quite well, and weren’t afraid to let the people be as they were (for the most part; aside from his ridiculous ride on the Underground, there’s absolutely no mistaken WSC or any of his colleagues as men of the people).

  2. I have memories of Churchill’s voice over the wireless, even though I was just a child (b. 1940), but to me he was the greatest man of his time. I was living in Tallahassee when he died, and I cried like a baby when his funeral was televised. Contrariwise, when living in London in the mid-50s, I was shocked at how much my generation discounted Churchill then. Looking forward to the film, but will probably have to wait for it on Netflix, as I do everything else.

  3. I’m going to see this on Amazon Prime.

    Churchill is one of the most remarkable people in history. While I deplore his views on Ireland and the Irish, he was spot on on Hitler and Nazis. His courageous stand will always be applauded.

    1. Yes, he’s a very good example in a lot of ways, while his views on Ireland and empire in general are not good. I appreciated how much the film showed his great qualities while not shying away from some of his bad ones (they even put it right up front with Clemmie telling him to be kinder close to the beginning, although with such a limited time frame they don’t get into Ireland).

  4. I don’t think this is in the cinemas anymore so will have to catch it on DVD. Lily James has been consistently awful in everything I’ve seen her in and I don’t think she’ll be any different here.

  5. Could I also say that The Commons was bombed in 1941 and so most of his wartime appearances would have been in The House if Lords

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