Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
Yesterday, I saw the latest well-praised movie about Winston Churchill called ‘Darkest Hour’. My parents and I heard good things about this movie, so we went along to see it. It was well worth watching at the cinema, since Gary Oldman delivers a brilliant performance as Mr. Winston Churchill.
This film has been nominated for six Academy Awards. It was directed by Joe Wright, who directed films like ‘Pride & Prejudice’ and ‘Atonement’. I was impressed by how the film depicted Churchill in his beginnings as Great Britain’s Prime Minister and making big choices in the Second World War.
Gary Oldman is sensational as Winston Churchill. I wouldn’t have believed it was Gary Oldman as Churchill, since he looks unrecognisable in that Churchill make-up. I recently saw Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon in ‘The Dark Knight Trilogy’ movies with Batman. He is pretty convincing as Churchill in this.
I like the balance of humour and drama in Gary Oldman’s performance as Churchill. You can see how he struggles with the pressures of being Prime Minister and demands people to take him seriously on his viewpoint. Many doubt his abilities as Prime Minister and he struggles to prove them wrong.
The film also stars Kristin Scott Thomas Clementine Churchill, Mr. Churchill’s wife. There’s also Ben Mendelsohn as King George VI; Lily James as Elizabeth Layton, Churchill’s secretary; Ronald Pickup as Chamberlain, Stephen Dillaine as the Earl of Halifax and there’s Samuel West as Anthony Eden.
Essentially the film focuses on Churchill’s promotion as Prime Minister of Great Britain; how he tackles the war situation and deals with saving soldiers from Dunkirk. It was revealing when Churchill was put in a situation where Britain would have to make peace negotiations with Italy and Germany.
My favourite scene in the film is where Churchill catches the underground tube train to Westminster and he meets and chats to the passengers on board. He gets chummy with everyone and asks their opinion about the war situation. It defined how highly regarded Churchill was as the Prime Minister.
‘Darkest Hour’ is a well-made film with superb direction by Joe Wright and wonderful performances from the cast including Gary Oldman as Churchill. I’ve learnt something new from the film as I’ve found out the history of Churchill’s beginnings as Prime Minister and the choices he made back then.
If you’re in the mood for a really good period drama movie about the Second World War with Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill, I highly recommend this one. It is best to watch this on the big screen.
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim. 🙂
Bradley's Basement 