Darkest Hour (film)
| Darkest Hour | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Joe Wright |
| Produced by | |
| Written by | Anthony McCarten |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Dario Marianelli |
| Cinematography | Bruno Delbonnel |
| Edited by | Valerio Bonelli |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Focus Features |
Release date |
|
Running time | 125 minutes[1] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 million[2] |
| Box office | $78.2 million[3] |
Darkest Hour is a 2017 British war drama film directed by Joe Wright and written by Anthony McCarten. It stars Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill, and follows his early days as Prime Minister, as Hitler closes in on Britain during World War II. The film also stars Ben Mendelsohn, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Stephen Dillane, and Ronald Pickup.
The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on 1 September 2017,[4] and also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.[5] It began a limited release in the United States on 22 November 2017, followed by general release on 22 December, and was released on 12 January 2018 in the United Kingdom.[6] The film has grossed $78 million worldwide and was well received by critics.
Gary Oldman's performance was praised, with many critics noting it as one of the best of his career; he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for his work.[7] At the 90th Academy Awards, the film earned six nominations, including Best Picture, and at the 71st British Academy Film Awards it received nine nominations, including Best Film as well as Best British Film, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Oldman and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Scott Thomas.[8]
Contents
[hide]Plot[edit]
In May 1940 Britain and France are Allies in World War II against Nazi Germany. Before the German invasions of Belgium and the Netherlands, the Opposition Labour Party in Parliament demands the resignation of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain for being too weak to protect national security. Chamberlain tells Conservative Party advisors that he wants Lord Halifax as his successor, but Halifax does not yet want to become Prime Minister. Chamberlain must choose the only other man whom other parties will support: Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty.
On her first day at work Churchill's new secretary Elizabeth Layton quickly upsets him by failing to follow his instructions. After Churchill causes Layton to cry and almost quit, his wife Clementine rebukes him, reminding him that as Prime Minister he will have to be nicer to others. King George VI reluctantly invites Churchill to form a government including Chamberlain and Halifax, but wants his friend Halifax as Prime Minister.
Although he was right about the danger from Adolf Hitler, Churchill has a poor reputation from the Gallipoli Campaign, his opposition to Indian self-government and his support for Edward VIII during the Abdication Crisis. Anthony Eden is among his few political friends; other Conservatives remember Churchill twice crossing the floor. Parliament dislikes the new Prime Minister's first speech promising "Blood, toil, tears and sweat" and Churchill refuses to negotiate for peace. He believes that the Germans are untrustworthy, but the French Prime Minister thinks him delusional for not admitting that the Allies are losing the Battle of France. Halifax and Chamberlain agree, keen to use Italian Ambassador Giuseppe Bastianini as intermediary to negotiate with Germany. During the May 1940 War Cabinet crisis they plan to resign from the government if Churchill refuses, causing a vote of no confidence that will allow Halifax to become Prime Minister.
The British Expeditionary Force is trapped at Dunkirk and Calais. Against the advice of the War Cabinet, Churchill orders Brigadier Claude Nicholson in Calais to lead the 30th Infantry Brigade in a suicide attack to distract the enemy while the soldiers at Dunkirk are evacuated in Operation Dynamo. The Little Ships of Dunkirk rescue 300,000 British soldiers, but Belgium surrenders, France will soon surrender, a German invasion of Britain seems inevitable and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt cannot help because of the Neutrality Acts of 1930s.
The defeat in France causes the War Cabinet to support negotiating with Germany; even Eden declines to speak up in Churchill's favour. Churchill reluctantly allows Halifax to speak to Bastianini. George VI unexpectedly visits Churchill; the King, not wanting to flee to Canada and rule in exile should Britain be invaded, encourages the Prime Minister to continue the war. Still uncertain of what to do, Churchill suddenly decides to ask London Underground passengers about the war; the civilians reject negotiations and want to continue to fight the Germans (this episode is completely fictional[9]). Churchill meets with the Outer Cabinet[10] and other members of Parliament, who also support him.
With Layton's help, Churchill prepares to address Parliament, while Halifax demands that an increasingly reluctant Chamberlain continue their plan to depose him. Towards the end of his speech, Churchill proclaims that "We shall fight on the beaches" should the Germans invade. Chamberlain decides to forgo the plan and the room, including Eden and other Conservatives, applauds the Prime Minister's defiance. Satisfied, Churchill departs.
The film's end-credits begin with a worded summary that Chamberlain dies six months later from cancer and Halifax is sent away to become the Ambassador to the United States, and that Churchill is Prime Minister in May 1945 when the Allies achieve victory over Germany but loses the General Election in July.
Cast[edit]
- Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill
- Kristin Scott Thomas as Clementine Churchill
- Ben Mendelsohn as George VI
- Lily James as Elizabeth Layton
- Ronald Pickup as Neville Chamberlain
- Stephen Dillane as Edward Wood, 3rd Viscount Halifax
- Nicholas Jones as John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon
- Samuel West as Anthony Eden
- David Schofield as Clement Attlee
- Richard Lumsden as Major-General Hastings Ismay
- Malcolm Storry as General Sir Edmund Ironside
- Hilton McRae as Arthur Greenwood
- Benjamin Whitrow as Sir Samuel Hoare
- Joe Armstrong as John Evans
- Adrian Rawlins as Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding
- David Bamber as Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay
- David Strathairn as Franklin D. Roosevelt (voice only)
- Jeremy Child as James Stanhope, 7th Earl Stanhope
- Brian Pettifer as Sir Kingsley Wood
- Michael Gould as Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry
- John Atterbury as Sir Alexander Cadogan
Production[edit]
On 5 February 2015, it was announced that Working Title Films had acquired Darkest Hour, a speculative screenplay by The Theory of Everything screenwriter Anthony McCarten, about Winston Churchill in the early days of World War II.[11]
On 29 March 2016, it was reported that Joe Wright was in talks to direct the film.[12] In April 2016, Gary Oldman was reported to be in talks to play Churchill.[13] on 6 September 2016, it was announced that Focus Features would release the film in the United States on 24 November 2017, while Ben Mendelsohn was set to play King George VI and Kristin Scott Thomas was cast as Clementine Churchill.[6] on 8 November 2016, Stephen Dillane joined the cast.[14]
By November 2016, Darkest Hour had begun principal photography,[15] and it was reported that Dario Marianelli would score the film.[16] For his role as Churchill, Oldman spent over 200 hours having make-up applied, and smoked over 400 cigars (worth about $20,000) during filming.[17][2]
John Hurt was initially cast as British prime minister Neville Chamberlain.[18] However, according to Oldman, Hurt was undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer and was unable to attend the read-throughs.[19] Ronald Pickup assumed the role of Chamberlain instead, and Hurt died from cancer in January 2017.[20]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
As of 15 January 2018[update], Darkest Hour has grossed $36.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $19.9 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $56.7 million.[3]
In the United States and Canada, the film began a limited release on 22 November 2017. In its first five days, it grossed $246,761 from four theatres (an average of $61,690), finishing 21st at the box office over the weekend.[21] The film had its wide release on 22 December 2017, alongside the openings of Downsizing, Pitch Perfect 3 and Father Figures, and the wide release of The Shape of Water, and grossed $3.9 million from 804 theatres over that weekend, and $5.5 million over the four-day Christmas frame.[22] The following weekend the film made $5.5 million, and a total of $7 million over the four-day New Years frame.[23]
Critical response[edit]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 86% based on 226 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Darkest Hour is held together by Gary Oldman's electrifying performance, which brings Winston Churchill to life even when the movie's narrative falters."[24] on Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating to reviews, the film has a normalised score of 75 out of 100, based on 50 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[25]
Oldman received praise for his performance, with numerous reviewers labelling him a frontrunner to win the Academy Award for Best Actor.[26] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote: "Get busy engraving Oldman's name on an Oscar... those fearing that Darkest Hour is nothing but a dull tableau of blowhard stuffed shirts will be relieved to know that they're in for a lively, provocative historical drama that runs on its own nonstop creative fire."[27] David Elrich of IndieWire praised Wright's direction and the musical score, writing: "Unfolding with the clockwork precision of a Broadway play... it's a deliciously unsubtle testament to the power of words and their infinite capacity to inspire."[28]
Conversely, Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com called the film "an acting exercise weighed down by costumes, make-up, and over-lighting", adding that "there's nothing new to the approach. It feels often like an obligation—a story that someone felt should be told again and a way to get a great actor his Oscar".[29]
Accolades[edit]
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