Darkest Hour

DARKEST HOUR

Director : Joe Wright
Year : 2018
Genre : Drama
Rating : ***

Before he won his Academy Award for his starring role in Alejandro G. Inarritu's gruelling 2015 thriller 'The Revenant', Leonardo DiCaprio was considered to be greatest actor never to win an Oscar. However, in my opinion, that undesirable honour should be bestowed to Gary Oldman who, despite a career featuring such cinematic highlights as 'Immortal Beloved', 'Leon : The Professional', 'Sid & Nancy', 'Bram Stoker's Dracula', 'Prick Up Your Ears' and 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' to name just a few, has never been gifted the hallowed statuette. However, with the release of Joe Wright's moody war drama 'Darkest Hour', that mistake will very soon be rectified and one of the most brilliant actors ever to grace the silver screen will finally be gifted the most illustrious prize the industry can bestow - even if it is a couple of decades too late and for the wrong film.

Britain. 1940. The country is in the ever-tightening grip of war with Nazi Germany. The Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup) has been duly evicted from 10, Downing Street and the government must choose a new leader to guide them through the tough and turbulent times ahead. Controversially, that man turns out to be the unpopular Winston Churchill (Oldman) whose blusterous personality and anti-peace rhetoric vehemently clashes with the liberally minded MP's of Westminster, personified in this case by the uptight Lord Halifax (Game Of Thrones' Stephen Dillane) who plans to oust Churchill from his royally appointed office and reinstate Chamberlain as Prime Minister. However, as the Nazi assault drives closer and closer to the White Cliffs of Dover and the threat of invasion intensifies with each passing day, Churchill's determination and impassioned cries of defiance strengthen and what could have spelled disaster for the people of the United Kingdom turns out to be one of the country's greatest victorys. 

Despite being buried under make-up maestro Kazuhiro Tsuji's astonishing prosthetics work, Oldman is completely unrecognisable yet undeniably brilliant as Winston Churchill, perfectly mimicing the stance, posture and drawling vocal internations that have become the definitive iconography of the British war effort. Of course, Oldman isn't the first actor to portray the Prime Minister in cinema; only last year, Brian Cox delivered a very convincing performance as the man in Jonathan Treplisky's televisual bio-drama 'Churchill'. Nevertheless, Gary Oldman manages to make the character his own and subsequently delivers one of the best performances of his extraordinary filmography. 

Alternating between quiet mumbled tones to spittle-flecked fury on the turn of a dime ("You cannot reason with a tiger when your head is in it's mouth!"), Oldman is truly impressive and while the film itself regularly meanders, what remains consistent throughout 'Darkest Hour' is his phenomenal central performance as well as those of his fine supporting cast which includes Stephen Dillane, veteran British thespian Ronald Pickup, rising star Lily James and the always impeccable Kristen Scott-Thomas who is terrific in the small yet crucial role of Winston's wife Clemmie. The one weak link in the cast is Ben Mendelssohn whose portrayal of King George VI is distractingly reminiscent of Michael Palin's Pontius Pilate from 'The Life of Brian' ("Welease Woderick!")

Working closely with regular Tim Burton cinematographer Bruno Delbonell, director Joe Wright imbues 'Darkest Hour' with a wonderfully persistent ambience of threat and impending danger. Consisting predominantly of men sitting and arguing in dimly lit offices thick with the smoke of tobacco, the film is at times an uncomfortably intimate viewing experience with Wright keeping the camera close to his actors faces allowing the audience to pick up every minute facial expression and questioning look, an auteurial element which works particularly well with arguments involving the evacuation of Dunkirk and a potential peace-broker with Germany. 

Contrasting sharply with the claustrophobic nature of the office scenes, set pieces in the House Of Commons feel suitably grand and spacious, with beautifully shot streaks of window-tinted sunlight splitting the screen in two; a beautifully evocative visual metaphor for the tumultuous ideological schism ripping apart the warring factions of the government. 

With great performances, solid direction and frequently beautiful cinematography, there is much to enjoy about 'Darkest Hour'. However, with so many films about Churchill already available, the question to ask is does it add anything or bring anything new to the already full table? The answer regrettably is no. The script by 'The Theory of Everything' scribe Anthony McCarten is noticeably clumsy and heavy-handed at times while an extended sequence in the London Underground plays less like drama and rather pure optimistic fantasy. That being said, 'Darkest Hour' is still worth seeing if not just for that electrifying central performance that will earn Gary Oldman his long-deserved Academy Award in two months time.