Joy in watching darkest hour

Rating: Null/10 (6 January 2018)

"Joy" pertains to watching Gary Oldman. I'll come back to that. First to Winston Churchill. Even people who have not seen any of the proliferation of his representations on screen would have caught glimpses of the man from newsreel footages (albeit three quarters of a century old). While the public persona is generally positive, there is no lacking in written material studying his dark side, all the way from Freudian effects since childhood. Churchill is not unlike a Skywalker. It is easy to apply hindsight. At his time when his influence was partly instrumental to shaping the world we live in today, however, instead of being a Luke who saved the world by pitching fearless heroism against evil, many believed that he would be an Anakin whose reckless crave for power would have plunged the world into a devastating disaster.
My own picture of Churchill came largely from his 6-volumes of World War II memoirs which I enjoyed over a period of many months. I have, like many TV series fan, also seen in the First Season of The Crown the portrayal by John Lithgow which earned him a well-deserved Golden Globe Best Supporting nomination. Gary Oldman's portrayal in "Darkest Hour" gave me a Winston Churchill that I have hitherto never visualized. Such a joy to watch.
We see Churchill first through the eyes of two women. But before we see the protagonist, the film starts with a sweeping crane shot of the Parliament when the fateful decision was made to oust "appeasing" prime minister Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup) and replace him with Churchill, the only candidate that the opposition will accept. The next scene shows Elizabeth Layton (Lily James) first day at work as Churchill's secretary, bullied in his customary manner and sort of rescued by Clementine (Kristin Scott Thomas), his angel of a wife, with a nonchalant wave of hand and a dismissive quip "all men are like that".
Indeed, we will see the fire and fury of Churchill we expect to see. But director Joe Wright and screenwriter Anthony McCarten also give us a very human Churchill, with a fair share of self-doubt, self-deprecation, sense of humor (not all caustic), compassion, as well as a soft spot for wife and cat, hopefully in that order.
While plunging directly into Churchill's formidable challenge of Dunkirk, the film glides along its first half with a delightfully light tone. One scene shows Layton taking dictation outside the bathroom, when suddenly Churchill warns that he is going to emerge in his "state of natural" and we see the lovely young lady scurrying down a flight of stairs, trying to contain a giggle. There is witty play of language aplenty. In another bathroom scene, Churchill quips to a couple of government officials waiting "Please tell the Privy Seal that I am presently sealed in the privy". Slightly subtler is an affectionate exchange with Clementine when he cooed "Remember the first time I met you, I was speechless". Without missing a beat, she replied "I must have been really beautiful to achieve that effect". Then there is the more blatant exchange during a heated argument in the war council when he yelled "Will you stop interrupting me while I am interrupting you!"
It is towards the second half of the film that it takes on a tone more fitted to its title, as the Dunkirk situation becomes critical, with the imminent annihilation of Britain's entire professional army. Plead for help in a long-distance call to Franklin Roosevelt revealed that the latter was not as chummy as Churchill has been led to believe. The nearest to a villain in this film, Viscount Halifax (Stephen Dillane), was driving him to a corner that spelt resignation. The turning point (in this film) was the unexpected opening-up of hitherto lukewarm King George VI (Ben Mendelsohn), otherwise known as Bertie, offering him support. What followed was a little bit of melodrama, a scene of Churchill seeking inspiration by riding the London subway in a throng of common folks. Even some critics embrace this heart-warming scene, melodramatic or not. This inspiration fuels the climactic conclusion with the immortal speech, when four simple English words "we shall fight them....." changed the course of the history of the world. What can make immortality even more immortal? Gary Oldman's delivery.
The cast is splendid. After Downton Abbey and Baby Driver, Lily James continues to melt hearts. Kristin Scott Thomas is at her best. After Colin Firth and Jared Harris (The Crown, Season 1), Ben Mendelsohn's more subdued KGVI takes a little getting used to, but you will. Stephen Dillane you may not recognize as Stannis Baratheon but he is equally good here. But Gary Oldman owns the screen whenever he appears. As when Frank Langella played Nixon, critics had doubts about physical resemblance (or the lack or which, more specifically). It takes no time at all for Gary Oldman to vanish completely and Winston Churchill to appear. Just like magic!