The Darkest Hour

On November 9th, 2017 I took my dad with me to Hiff to see the Darkest Hour a movie about Winston Churchill and the political struggle he went through. To start off both my father and myself are huge fans of war movies and history, my dad being in the arm forces it hits a little too close to home sometimes but I still enjoy them. Growing up in America I have seen many war movies and most of the time America is the star of the films. It was really refreshing to see stories from another point of view and what they did to win the war. This movie really helped me understand the hardship of the Prime Minister and the fighting spirit of the British people.

The movie opens with Churchill getting a new typist and him berating her making him seem like an ill-mannered intolerable brut. He soon warms up to the young woman and he is summoned by the King of England who reluctantly asks him to be the next Prime Minister in the time of WW2. I do not want to give spoilers but at the same time this is in history books and common knowledge so, I feel it would not be spoilers.

The cinematography was unique, I especially was entranced by transition shots. There is one shot of bombs from an airplane being dropped and slowly the landscape morphs into a dead soldier’s face before you even realize what happened. It was a chilling and effective shot in my opinion. My second favorite shot is Churchill entering an elevator and it the screen goes black and just the elevator of Churchill going up in the elevator could be seen with a single light overhead.

The characters were interesting and fun even if they were in a scene for a moment they made the scene feel real with mannerisms and costumes.

I asked my dad what he liked about the movie such as cinematography and characters,

“I liked it. It’s a very well told story that showed a human side to Churchill. Charterers were good, Gary Oldman was outstanding. Cinematography I liked how they morphed things into other things. Like the bombings of the land into that guys face. I Liked it overall. His reactions to the stupid politics at the time and how he did handle it with a lot of humor.”

The relationship between the King and Prime Minister was brilliant. The changing climate of England changed the relationship between the two until the King placed his trust in the Churchill. The use of humor at times were so properly done it made it feel like real people and events happening on screen.

Both my father and I gave the movie 5/5. I highly recommend it. It can get kind of hard to understand if one does not know their history but this movie will inspire many to look into it for themselves. I would love a few more movies following Churchill through the years of war and after the war. It was also interesting the did not water down his speech. At some points in the movie I thought he was speaking another language from his accent and slurring. Subtitles may have been helpful my dad jokingly told me after the movie.