On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany raided Poland with a "blitzkrieg".
On September 3, 1939, Britain and France were forced to adopt a "policy of appeasement" against Germany due to problems of interest : declaration without war.
After 27 days, Poland fell completely.
Nazi Germany was so powerful that it captured Denmark in one day, captured Norway in 23 days, settled the Netherlands in 5 days, and conquered Belgium in 18 days...
When people were shocked by the swift and fierce "blitzkrieg", France, known as "Europe's strongest army," hid behind the 390-kilometer Maginot Line, triumphantly thinking that Hitler, a small and sluggish warrior, would never be able to break through. A solid line of defense.
But the natural French guy did not expect that the Germans are too cunning:
They actually crossed the left flank of the defense line in May 1940 and arrived at Magino from the rear, forcing the 400,000 British and French troops stationed here to retreat to Dunkirk.
This is Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" , through the three dimensions of sea, land and air, the panoramic display of the British and French allied forces when they were surrounded by German troops in Dunkirk, retreating in panic.
I believe viewers who have watched this film will have a doubt:
When 400,000 Anglo-French soldiers were struggling to survive on the beach, what did those big men do?
——This is what "The Darkest Hour" wants to say.
What are the big names in Britain doing?
Busy fighting in the nest!
On May 8, 1940, the "opposition" Labor Party, under the leadership of "leader" Clement Attlee, "attacked" Chamberlain, who had been advocating an "appeasement policy" against Germany in the House of Lords, and coerced him to resign. For the post of "Prime Minister", another person should be chosen, otherwise the Labour Party will refuse to cooperate with the ruling Conservative Party.
This is a "fight in the nest" between the two parties.
Within the Conservative Party chaired by Chamberlain, it feels that one should be randomly selected, such as the 66-year-old fat man Churchill, who should be thrown out as a target. In this way, the Labor Party can be blocked, and it can continue to implement the "appeasement policy" and conduct peace negotiations with Hitler.
This is a "fight in the nest" within the Conservative Party.
Why does it have to be Churchill?
Because of his bad reputation, he has no prestige in the cabinet, and no one will listen to him.
When we talk about Churchill now, we all say that he was the great man (one of) who saved the world in World War II. But before he became prime minister, this buddy was a complete loser in the eyes of his colleagues:
My dad died of syphilis, and my mom is also a lover with many lovers;
He himself switched his party membership back and forth between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party.
What's more terrible is that his political achievements are in a mess.
Especially in the "Battle of Gallipoli" commanded by him in "World War I", the British army lost more than 20,000 soldiers at one time-this became his biggest scandal in British politics.
The British army at the Battle of Gallipoli, and their tanks that fell in the trenches
In addition, Churchill was introduced as a target, and Hitler, the "German lunatic", also helped a lot.
In the summer of 1939, Churchill claimed in a newspaper:
"The German Nazis represent an unprecedented'cult organization'."
This word reached Hitler's ears, and he, with a strange moustache, went crazy and directly scolded on the radio, saying that Churchill was a "dirty liar" and a "bloated fat pig".
Everyone knows that the German accent is inherently strong, and Hitler's excitement in his speech immediately raised Churchill's reputation among the British people.
The election of Churchill as prime minister at this time can ease the pressure of public opinion on the government to a large extent.
In other words, Churchill was only the result of a compromise between the ruling Conservative Party and the opposition Labor Party.
They just want to use him as a decoration to block the people's leisurely mouth. Then continue to implement the "appeasement policy", hoping to negotiate with Hitler through Mussolini, an intermediary.
So there is this scene in the movie:
On May 11, 1940, on the second day of his tenure, Churchill delivered a speech in the House of Lords, deciding to fight the German Nazis to the end. But Chamberlain signaled the Conservative Party to remain silent with a handkerchief. As for the Labor Party, they also had no idea about the war with Germany, so they also remained silent.
Churchill knew the identity of the puppets and furnishings. Churchill also knew how he was unwelcome. Churchill knew better about his previous shameful political achievements.
But at this time he was not thinking of himself, but how to save Britain from being poisoned by Germany.
It is here that "The Darkest Hour" shows the process of how great men become great men.
First, he is blind and angry.
Facing the German "blitzkrieg", the defeat of France, and the 400,000 troops trapped in Dunkirk, he neither fully understood the severity of the crisis nor understood the specific attitudes of the British people, but held on to Hitler. The anger, he said to himself passionately: Britain will fight against Nazi Germany to the end!
But he didn't know exactly how to fight the Japanese war, how much the British would pay, and what the consequences would be.
This blindness was also manifested in his meeting with the French representatives, hoping that the French would be able to stubbornly resist. He didn't seem to realize that the French soldiers had been entangled with the British soldiers and were besieged in Dunkirk, and the military was distracted. So there is no fighting spirit.
This is also the reason why the French representative scolded Churchill as insane when he left by car.
Soon, he ate the consequences of blindness: He allowed the 4000 British troops trapped in Calais to contain the German troops that were gathering in Dunkirk, resulting in all the 4000 British troops being killed in less than a day and none of them were spared.
It was also at this time that the members of the government cabinet, especially Chamberlain, the chairman of the Conservative Party, and the political enemy Viscount Harley Fax, who was elected by Churchill as cabinet members, threatened Churchill to agree to their peace talks with Germany in the name of resignation. Advocate.
The defeat on the Calais battlefield, the coalition forces trapped in Dunkirk, and the "forced palace" of the cabinet members went forward, leaving Churchill, who was fighting alone, into a desperate situation.
At this time, Churchill was both fragile and fragile.
Before meeting with the cabinet, he would lie on the crack of the door to peek, and then take a deep breath to relax himself;
After being stunned by cabinet members several times, he began to close himself, either hiding in the toilet and smoking, or sitting in the basement to turn off the lights.
Even his original quirks have become more agitated because of his anxiety:
Drinking endlessly, smoking cigars, muttering to himself that Hitler is an inferior bastard, and even walking around the house naked without regard to the female secretary's presence...
He was afraid of making decisions, and even wanted to find foreign aid to help him out of trouble.
He surreptitiously called Franklin, the then President of the United States, in an almost imploring tone, hoping that the United States would dispatch warships and planes to withdraw the British forces trapped in Dunkirk (Franklin declined with the Neutrality Act of 1937). Up him).
At this time, Churchill was just like us who encountered setbacks:
Afraid of meeting people, talking, and being responsible, dreaming of having a divine power to save oneself from the sky, or complaining about self-satisfaction, babbling, and even facing a cabinet member who denies him daring to be angry but not speaking, thinking that other people’s accusations may be right , Perhaps peace negotiations with Hitler are part of his responsibilities as prime minister.
At this time, he was like a child when he was fragile, desperate, lonely and desperate, so he fell into the arms of his wife Clementine, crying and acting like a baby...
Seeing Churchill being attacked and helpless, even King George VI of England, who didn't like him, felt distressed.
Why doesn't George VI like Churchill?
Just look at "The King's Speech" by "Uncle Face" Colin Firth won the Oscar for Best Actor: This stammering king was forced to come to power by people including Churchill——
Because Churchill and others agreed to his brother Duke Edward's request for abdication in order to marry the widow Mrs. Simpson, there was King George VI who could not even speak clearly.
In "The Darkest Hour," how did this king who stutters when he gets excited to cheer up Churchill?
He found Churchill in the basement and encouraged him with the "spiritual victory method" commonly used by Churchill: let him speak with a decisive attitude about his profound analysis of the situation and his understanding of the British people and Nazi Germany.
Let the inspired public opinion make the decision instead of fighting the whole world alone.
Churchill, inspired by George VI, became resolute and bold.
Not only did he refuse to attend the cabinet meeting that was clamoring for peace talks, and he didn't even bother to go to the House of Lords. Instead, he went directly to the House of Commons, which better represented the voice of ordinary British people, and asked them about their attitudes towards Nazi Germany.
The uncompromising London citizens he met on the subway and the representatives of the House of Commons who firmly disagreed with the peace talks greatly inspired Churchill's faith and determination to fight to the end.
Only then did he understand: he is not alone and helpless, but has been ignoring their existence!
That's why he went to the cabinet with confidence, ignored the opposition who accused him of destroying Britain, and insisted on calling on the people of the whole country to fight against the enemy and fight Nazi Germany to the end.
So there is the most exciting scene in the movie:
On May 13, 1940, Churchill delivered a famous speech in the House of Commons.
"I have nothing else but blood, hard work, tears and sweat for everyone. You ask: What is our purpose? I can answer with one word: victory! Fight for victory at all costs! No matter how scary, we must fight for it. Victory! No matter how far and difficult the road is, we must fight for victory-because without victory, we cannot survive."
Churchill finally won the support of the British people to fight Hitler to the end with an absolute advantage of 381 votes to 0 votes.
From this point of view, "The Darkest Hour" is not the kind of biopic that uses a running account.
What the movie cares more about is to restore the blindness, anger, despair and fragility of Churchill, who was regarded as a great man by later generations, at the time when he was defeated and isolated.
No one is born great.
No one is born to conquer everything.
The same is true for Churchill- from the initial "blind and angry" to the later "counseling and fragile" and the final "resolute and courageous", we feel the fragility, loneliness and fear of Churchill.
It was Gary Oldman who was given the nickname "Dog Dad" by fans to convey this complexity to the audience .
Natalie Portman, who worked with "This Killer Is Not So Cold", looked at Gary, who was nominated for "The Potter, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" when she presented the Best Actor Award at the 2012 Oscars. ·Oldman exclaimed:
"Oh my God, I can't believe it, this is the first time you have nominated for an Oscar!"
Many people may not have noticed that although this superb British actor has portrayed many images and roles, many of them have left a deep impression on us. But we didn't notice that, in fact, Oldman was nominated for an Oscar only once.
"Daddy Dog" pointed at Oscar this time, and devoted a lot of energy and effort to Churchill. In his own words:
"Every day I come to the studio first and leave at the latest. Sometimes it's two o'clock in the morning. When the other staff and actors start the rehearsal, I am already'Churchill'. The director has not seen me'myself' in three months — —And the makeup of "Churchill" took about 200 hours before and after."
Before filming started, he read a lot of Churchill's biography, visited Churchill's former residence, and interviewed Churchill's still alive family.
In order to perfectly restore Churchill’s voice, "Daddy Dog" even invited an opera singer to guide his voice-how strong is the "Daddy Dog" after putting on makeup?
The crew said: As long as he appears on the set after putting on makeup, we become serious unconsciously, and even stand upright with our backs against the wall .
This aura is just as shocking as his domineering, rude and rude reprimand of Viscount Harley Fax, who has always advocated peace talks:
"Can you not interrupt me when I interrupt you?!"
It was Gary Oldman's powerful aura and his perfect grasp of Churchill's fragility, loneliness, and helplessness that made the audience not feel bored during the two-hour meetings and debates.
Look at the movie: the hoarse voice caused by smoking cigars for many years, the slightly drunken tone brought about by frequent drinking, the saliva that often flows out of the corners of the mouth due to age, the sense of drama when speaking, and the hegemony of smashing the table and smashing the bench when arguing with anger ...
What could be better than watching an international actor in a show like this?
The best male lead of the Oscars in 2018 will probably be in Gary Oldman's pocket.
Barcelona movies, enjoy every inch of light and shadow
View more about Darkest Hour reviews
