DARKEST HOUR by Campbell Dalglish, [email protected]

Going back 77 years, a whole generation, to a moment when all seemed lost to the horror of a Hitler regime ruling the earth, the lives of 300,000 British soldiers fell into the green hands of Britain's newly appointed Prime Minister, , an untrusted, unreliable, cigar smoking alcoholic with a gift for framing difficult situations with pithy phrases that are still quoted today. "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." "Never, never, never give up." "If you're going through hell, keep going."

Director Joe Wright ("," "Pride and Prejudice") has created a character study of this enigmatic world leader in his latest film, "Darkest Hour," employing his knack for careful psychological dramatic studies. At the same time we have Christopher Nolan's version of the evacuation of British troops in his film "Dunkirk," an action adventure film that puts us in the trenches with the allied forces. Joe Wright's film focuses on the in- fighting among the characters in the back rooms of British Parliament who made the final call to go along with Winston's citizen-based decision. While the romance of seeing domestic ships sailing from the shores of England to the harbor and beaches of Dunkirk to evacuate 300,000 is sensational, the real political struggle for the Brits at the time was taking place in Parliament.

The main question under discussion was whether or not to negotiate a peace agreement with Hitler, surrendering to Naziism, or sacrificing thousands to defy him. Because Winston could not trust Hitler, he was not willing to capitulate and ever allow the Swastika to hang over the archway of Parliament. In the film, there's a crowd-pleasing scene in the subway that appeals to the voices of the people, a dramatic tear-jerking moment, that albeit fictitious, remains true to the spirit of the Brits to never, never, never surrender to the dictators of the world. And still the question haunts world leaders today. The elephant sized question remains in the room: Does one surrender to authoritarians who rule without reason for narcissistic power, spreading their disastrous sound-bites like it was gospel blinding us all to the destruction of our own beliefs upon which a nation is built? Or does one take the risk of great sacrifice and resist to the bitter end? Which is the worst choice? Which is the only choice?

Gary Oldman ("Dark Knight," "Bram Stoker's Dracula") gives the performance of his life time, unafraid to take us into the dark recesses of Churchill's psyche in order to answer that question for Great Britain. ("Cinderella," "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies") plays his frightened typist trying to keep up with his speech writing while mourning the loss of her brother. When Winston breaks all gender rules and takes her into the war room, she stands in front of a map feeling with her fingers the tragedy taking place at Dunkirk. plays Clementine Churchill as the supporting wife who guides Churchill to hold his own when he begins to question himself in the Darkest Hour. While the couple struggles financially to make ends meet, something we would never have guessed of a Prime Minister, we learn what was at the heart of this man that helped him make such huge decisions: "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

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