Darkest Hour review- a critique by Perri Nemiroff

Full text transcript of the Darkest Hour review

Hey, guys, I’m back with another review. This is for the latest from Atonement and Hanna director Joe Wright, The Darkest Hour Stars. Gary Oldman is Winston Churchill and chronicles what happens when he’s appointed prime minister when Britain was being threatened by a possible Nazi invasion and also while three hundred thousand British soldiers were trapped in Dunkirk. It’s interesting seeing darkest hour so soon after getting Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, they covered the same event, one with devastating action and violence, and then the other with verbal sparring and speeches.

And they both find great success using their respective approaches. But paired together, I found it to be a real treat to get these movies in such close proximity to each other. Of course, darkest hour, though, has to work as a feature film on its own, and it certainly does. But the connection here is kind of like an added bonus. But now let’s jump into the obvious with darkest hour.

Gary Oldman is incredible. He is completely unrecognizable and just commands the screen with such passion, power and magnetism and also with a really surprising and welcome sense of humor that I didn’t expect. One of the things I appreciated most about Darkest Hour, though, is how it takes the time to highlight what went down in the political arena. But also what he was like behind closed doors and at home to old men has great chemistry with Kristin Scott Thomas, who’s always fantastic and sure enough, makes a very strong impression with minimal screen time.

As Churchill’s wife and I also love the material that featured old men alongside Lily James as a secretary, I was very captivated by how that working relationship develops over the course of the movie, and it also winds up shedding a lot of light on who Winston Churchill is as a person, not just the political figure. And there’s no doubt that that significantly contributed to making his debates and speeches so engaging and really making you feel the weight of this dire situation.

And that feeling also stems from what Joe Wright and his team bring to the film visually as well. The lighting in this movie is stunning. And there’s also an added energy to the way that writing a cinematographer, Bruno del Bernell, capture everything, which is vital considering we’re talking about building tension with a very dialogue heavy movie. There’s also a quality to the cinematography and production design that kind of makes you feel trapped, like you’re feeling the pressure of the invasion, which greatly contributes to the pace and the urgency of the film.

Another behind the scenes achievement that really deserves a whole lot of praise is this makeup team responsible for transforming old men into Churchill? Yes, old men breathe life into the role and he delivers a phenomenal performance. But it’s also quite the accomplishment that it didn’t really pop into my mind.

Hey, it’s Gary Oldman and it’s on a make up until a good ways into the movie. And then after that, of course, I’m talking about it. It’s not really something I thought about much while I was watching it, though. There’s also the fact that there’s a lot of Close-Up shots of old men in this shots that I think captures performance in the best way. And the makeup work there is flawless, which it had to be. I’m going to give the darkest hour for DeWees out of five in the Dewey Decimal movie scale.

There’s one scene that takes place on a subway car that did feel like it came out of a fairy tale of sorts. And the movie overall does glorify Churchill a good deal. But Oldman is incredible. The tone, the pace, the style re-establishes all work well. And I also really responded to the intimate approach to making such an enormous decision and the cinematic and rousing way that Wright and screenwriter Anthony McCarten went about telling the story. So that’s my take on darkest hour now. I need yours, though. Did you see it sound off in the comments below? Thank you guys so much for watching this video. But I need a very special patchier shout out right now for Tony Morrow. Tony, yet again, a huge thank you for all of your continued support. I’ll be seeing you guys real soon with more movie reviews.