Film: Darkest Hour

They don't always have something decent for the midweek movie on telly - but tonight, it was Darkest Hour. Set in 1940, and for which Gary Oldman won an Oscar for his portrayal of Winston Churchill, in the early days of WWII. (Also got an Oscar for hair and makeup, and was nominated for some more, including Best Picture.) And I'd never seen it. So of course I was going to watch it!

Also has Kristin Scott-Thomas as his wife, Clem: Ben Mendelsohn as the King: and Ronald Pickup as Chamberlain, the PM with the unpopular policy of appeasement with Hitler, and who is replaced by Churchill. Directed by Joe Wright. And I was lucky to get to watch it at all, what with the storm rattling over the country - I can hear it shaking the house as I write. But we've had worse.

It just covers a portion of 1940, from Chamberlain's fall from grace, through the stresses of Dunkirk, and ends with Churchill's rousing speech about "fighting on the beaches". And in between, it focuses primarily on Churchill, on his state of mind, and the decisions he has to make - the appeasement faction hasn't gone away, and there remains a cohort that would happily see Churchill gone. Indeed, those in power always have enemies, and soon after the war's end, he was deposed. But that's another day's story.

It's beautifully shot, perfect detail from the period. And Oldman plays a blinder - I didn't know Churchill, he was before my time, but this looks authentic to me. Constantly drinking and smoking cigars, holding meetings in the bathroom or his bedroom.. clever enough to cadge lunch out of the King, he proceeds to feed a corgi scraps under the table. (The King barely has a role in this - just as in real life, he's on the sidelines, providing moral assistance when required. With a slight speech impediment.) Churchill is always one for a soundbite - well, that's true to life, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature!

Now, there's plenty of tension in the film - but we don't get to see the Blitz, which started later that year: nor do we get to see much of the rescue from Dunkirk. (But then, there's another, excellent, film about that.) Nope, this very much centres on Churchill's quirks and personal battles. And it's generally impossible not to like him - despite the fact that he did support the sending of the Black and Tans to Ireland (outside of the scope of this film). But hey, he was coming from a different perspective, and nobody's perfect.. Certainly, he was the man that was needed in this, the "darkest hour" for both Britain and himself. And this makes for stirring viewing - especially when you think of what they still had to go through. Recommended.

This weekend is all about London Social Detours. On Saturday, they're doing another "time-travel" - Ancient Rome this time, complete with a short film again.

And on Sunday, they have a talk, by someone from the National Gallery, about Catherine of Aragon! I was the first to sign up - nice to be kept busy again.