Picture-perfect portrayal of Churchill is truly Oscar-worthy
DARKEST HOUR
Starring: Gary Oldman, Ben Mendelsohn, Lily James, Kristin Scott Thomas, Stephen Dillane. Cometh the hour, cometh the man with a plan
MUCH has already been made of the magnificence of Gary Oldman’s portrayal of iconic British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour.
In years to come (particularly if, as expected, Oldman wins the coming Best Actor Oscar), it will be the deeply transformative nature of this performance for which the film will be remembered.
However, if we were to take a step back from that justifiable hype, most will immediately recognise Darkest Hour as a direct companion piece to recent World War II masterpiece Dunkirk.
These are the same events, processed from a radically different (and noticeably less compelling) perspective.
This time, the day will be saved for the thousands of troops stranded on a windswept French beach by one man waddling down the corridors of power in London.
With a little unforeseen luck and a lot of intestinal fortitude, Churchill became the crucial keeper of a flame of resistance that would ultimately keep a Nazi invasion of Great Britain at bay.
Cinematically speaking, Darkest Hour is no Dunkirk. It is as old-fashioned (sepiatoned cinematography, sweeping orchestral score, etc) and conventionally structured as these kind of prestige historical biopics can be.
Thank heavens, then, for the amazing work of Oldman. Though the use of prosthetics and padding has easily placed the actor in the same roly-poly physical spectrum as Churchill, it is his channelling of the spirit of the man that achieves the greatest impact.
During the period depicted in Darkest Hour, Churchill was yet to become the elder statesman now fixed in so many memories.
As a relatively unpopular choice of PM and with a lot of blemishes on his track record, he had a lot to prove in one of the most trying times in his nation’s history.
Oldman seizes upon his character’s many flaws and magically turns them into saving graces: Churchill’s rapid swings between selfconfidence and self-doubt; his unbridled love of his own voice; his willingness to send himself up; and his stubborn refusal to yield any ground.
It is such a dazzling star turn from the lead actor that the well-pitched performances of his supporting cast — including Kristin Scott Thomas as Churchill’s wife Clementine, and a wonderful Ben Mendelsohn as King George VI — are almost unfairly shoved into the shadows.