Alone in the breach
PHOTOGRAPHS of Winston Churchill sticking up two fingers to the advancing Nazi threat during World War II became defining images of British defiance, solidarity and resolve.
While the rest of Europe capitulated to the Reich, the cigar-puffing statesman stood firm, inspiring citizens to “defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength”.
The 27 tumultuous days, which led to Churchill’s impassioned cry for the British to fight on the beaches and in the streets, are elegantly dramatised in Joe Wright’s handsomely crafted character study.
Based on a script by Anthony McCarten, this timely account of political hubris during blood-soaked conflict is distinguished by a tourde-force performance from Gary Oldman.
Concealed behind layers of flawless makeup and latex, the London-born actor gives a mesmerising portrayal of the rotund statesman, who bore the weight of responsibility for evacuating more than 300,000 Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk.
Oldman delivers Churchill’s public addresses with relish but it’s in the film’s quieter moments, when the politician is tormented by self-doubt, that his performance hits the heights.
The film opens on May 9, 1940 during a particularly boisterous exchange in Parliament.
Clement Attlee (David Schofield), leader of the opposition Labour Party, demands Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup) stand down as Prime Minister for “leaving our nation ruinously unprepared to face the present Nazi peril”.
A notable absentee from the Conservative benches is Churchill (Oldman).
Sir Anthony Eden (Samuel West) whispers to a colleague that Winston is “ensuring his fingerprints aren’t on the murder weapon” shortly before Chamberlain confirms he will resign.
King George VI (Ben Mendelsohn) subsequently invites Winston to form a government at a critical juncture in the fight against Hitler.
Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax (Stephen Dillane) spearheads senior Conservative figures who expect Churchill to agree to talks with the Germans.
They are gravely mistaken and the new Prime Minister holds firm to his potentially tragic course, supported by his longsuffering wife Clementine (Kristin Scott Thomas), snobbish aide John Evans (Joe Armstrong) and new secretary Elizabeth Layton (Lily James).
Wright directs with his trademark brio, while Scott Thomas and Mendelsohn offer sterling support, the latter tugging heartstrings in a softly played final scene.
A timely lesson for the political guard of every hue as we face a very different showdown with European neighbours.