By Emilio Frenk
Director: Joe Wright
Cast: Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ben Mendelsohn, Lily James, Ronald Pickup, Stephen Dillane, Nicholas Jones, Samuel West, David Schofield, Richard Lumsden and Malcolm Storry.
Rating: Excellent.
Joe Wright, director of “Pride & Prejudice” and “Atonement” brings “Darkest Hour” by far his most ambitious movie of his career that I consider it a very good retrospective to a history class.
Based on true events the movie takes place during the early days of World War II and tells the story of Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman), the newly appointed British Prime Minister who has one of the most difficult tasks in his hands that could define the fate of the entire country, which is to either negotiate with Adolf Hitler or fight the German army against all odds.
This is the story of not only one the most iconic figures in Great Britain`s history but for the world itself, a very brave man who didn´t care about the odds and always fought for what he considered the right thing.
Joe Wright directed a film that took only one subject and this was one of the things that made “Darkest Hour” work.
This is the second Winston Churchill of this year since previously there was a movie called “Churchill” were Brian Cox performed the former Prime Minister and that movie I couldn´t care less since I saw only a Winston Churchill throwing constantly feats like a boy.
Here in “Darkest Hour” you see those moments as well but at least it was more justified and the movie like I mentioned takes place in World War II and the obstacles that Winston Churchill faced as the leader of a nation.
The screenplay written by Anthony McCarten, who wrote 2014´s “The Theory of Everything” and led him to an Academy Award Nomination was again beautifully crafted and he took us to that journey that we haven´t seen in the big screen before. Like I mentioned in the beginning this was a very good learning lesson and a good throwback to history.
You could tell that the amount of research that McCarten did about Churchill was huge and it did payoff in this film, specially in the climatic scene of the movie that was one of the most original and quite frankly very surprising.
Joe Wright´s direction was very good. The choices in terms of shots were very precise and sharp and the direction he gave to his cast was extraordinary specially Gary Oldman, who is at his finest.
I was very impressed with Oldman`s performance in this film. His transformation as Winston Churchill is outstanding and the characterization they did on him was one of a kind. I consider this his best performance of his career and most likely we will see him score an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor.
When I saw the first image of him portraying Churchill he was unrecognizable and his performance was believable from beginning to end.
I felt the movie could have had a shorter length but it was reasonable why it was that long since we needed to understand the whole scope of the conflict and Churchill`s refusal to negotiate with Adolf Hitler.
The movie is dark like the title of the film but it´s a very interesting one to watch, specially if you are history lover.
The Cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel, who has shot movies like “Inside Llewyn Davis” and “Amélie” was again outstanding and the way how he played with his lightning constantly and framing of the film worked at all levels.
The score by Dario Marianelli was engaging and hit the correct cues in the most important scenes in the film.
One word of advice before you watch this film is to be prepared since the length can be an issue and has a slow pace as well.
“Darkest Hour” not only is one of the year´s best films, but has the performance of the year on Gary Oldman. These are enough elements for me to recommend it highly and you cannot miss it.