Film review of Darkest Hour- by Ren Geekness

Full text transcript of the film review of Darkest Hour

Darkest Hour is directed by Joe Wright and the stars Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill. It follows Churchill as he is appointed the prime minister of the United Kingdom in the most tense days of World War Two. Hitler has just conquered most of Europe, and he has now a big monopoly of power. And he is threatening invasion on the United Kingdom and France. And Churchill finds himself conflicted about either accepting or not Hitler’s terms for a negotiation of peace.

This film is very much a character study, and it captures the character of Churchill very well. I personally am a big fan of British history and of Churchill himself. And Gary Oldman is marvelous in this role. Absolutely marvelous. From the prosthetics to his body language to the looks he gives, to the way he moves around the scenes, the way he talks, this guy becomes Churchill. There’s no doubt about it. You do not see Gary Oldman in this film. You see the ruthless and unfiltered prime minister that does not give two shits about popularity. He thinks a certain way he will act according to that certain way of thinking, despite that being very unpopular or not going accordingly to British policies.

But what I was surprised by how I captures the men, the vulnerable man behind the prime minister, the man who doubts himself, the man who feels weak in front of so many people being against him. There are so many things going on in the political climate of this film that you feel the tension throughout the entire two hour runtime of this film. You feel the way that is on Winston Churchill’s shoulders.

And when the film does that switch in which it shows you the man instead of prime minister, you really get to see who this man really was, a man just like any other a human being, a man who basically has to put on a superhero costume to lead a country to face his doubters and his disbelievers and change or try to change the course. A country is going to lead facing this tyrant that is Adolf Hitler. And I’ve said this before in many reviews, but when you have a period piece like this, it’s very important that you make the people, the audience feel like they are in that time.

And the movie does that spectacularly, not only in that direction, but you’re right, which is fabulous in this film. And I’m so glad he made a great movie again. But throughout the film, the shot composition, the cinematography, the editing, it allows you to go into this film and feel like you’re in the parliament with these politicians, with these parties, L.A. feel like you’re with Churchill in his room, in his house, talking with his wife and his secretary, played by Lily James, which they have to share a very endearing relationship.

And there’s a tension throughout, as I said, because these were very tense times. These were times that could change the course of the world, the course of history. They could change the course of Britain as we know it. And the cinematography is spectacular, how they tell a story visually in this film. I was very surprised at certain points and how they captured the liberal framing of Churchill in one shot. And also the film does very well in bringing a natural organic comedy into it.

There are some very good and necessary moments of levity in this film due to the fact of our church. His relationship was with his wife and the way he reacted to certain things and acted around certain people the way he just was about himself brings a lot of levity into this film because this guy was very quirky, very unique. And this is not the first time I’ve heard that Churchill was like this. Oldman portrays all the sides of this character so well. This is by far the best portrayal of Churchill. I have seen. Yes, I have seen the crown. I love Lithgow performance as well. This is top notch. This is perfection. This is Churchill on screen. Leili James does give a fantastic performance. But I was disappointed in the scene that the film kind of forgets about her.

It leads us into believing that she will have a prominent role in the film, which she does technically. She has a relationship with Churchill. He is very dear to her. She cares about him as well. There’s a back story to her that is quickly exposed to us in this film. But after that, after that crucial moment, the film kind of forgets about her. Also, Kristin Scott Thomas as Churchill’s wife was fabulous. She really is the one that reels him in because she is the one that really does know him as the fragile man who doubts himself.

I also felt like the film, unfortunately, had very uneven pacing to itself because it goes slowly treading through some. Days of Churchills election and Churchill’s decision making, and then midway through the second act, it quickly starts to move very fast and trying to resolve every issue that it presents as they go into the battle and the rescue of the soldiers at the Dunkirk beach. And the movie does display on screen the passing of the days and the political climate and tension rising.

But then it moves about all these things in such different places throughout one unique film that really makes you feel and even you really feel like you flew through some moments and spent a little too much time on others. Nonetheless, this is a fabulous portrayal of a fabulous personality from world history and the way he changed the possible course that one government nearly took a country in.

Wright is back on track with Dr. Stour. Gary Oldman is for sure going after the Oscar, no doubt about our darkest hour, has a few issues, but it is absolutely a collector’s item. What did you think of darkest hour?

Maybe the geek is let me know in the comments. What is your favorite portrayal of Winston Churchill? And let me know who is your favorite political figure that you want to see in film that hasn’t been portrayed yet. Thank you so much for watching. You guys are the best. I’m done with the festival this week. I’ll be back home and the reviews for that is Home and Mountain Bituminous before going to London and give you many other reviews on there. So stay tuned. And until then, you stay beautiful. You stay. And if you decide to yet, click the subscribe button and the bell so he can be geeky you like.