Chuck Roots
1 January 2018
www.chuckroots.com
The Ripon Bulletin
Darkest Hour
Movie reviews are not part of my
usual literary trappings, but occasionally I watch a movie that really grabs my
attention. As a rule, my wife and I rarely watch movies, either at home or in
the theater.
Since
we had made no particular plans for New Years Eve, we decided after church to
enjoy a restful afternoon at home. I had already purchased tickets for the
6:20pm showing of the acclaimed Darkest Hour movie about Winston Churchill’s rise
to power as England’s prime minister at a most critical juncture in what would
become known as World War Two.
I
hardly consider myself a connoisseur of the art of filmmaking, but I love
history and Darkest Hour gives us a window into a one-month span in the embattled
times of England as it stood on the brink of catastrophe. Their army of some
300,000 men was facing annihilation by the German Army of the Third Reich.
Pinned down on the beaches of Dunkirk, France with their backs to the English
Channel, their situation appeared hopeless. Germany ruled the sea and the air,
as well as the ground. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (1937-40) had previously
met with Der Führer,
Adolf Hitler, returning home to England to proclaim peace agreements had been
reached with Hitler. It turned out to be a hollow promise on the part of
Hitler, placing Chamberlain in a most unfortunate position, and an embarrassing
one, to boot.
The
British Parliament was divided over how to proceed with a robust and voracious
German military power that was running rough-shod over all of continental
Europe. Chamberlain lost the confidence of the ruling parties, and was forced
to step down. The only person who was acceptable to both political parties was
Sir Winston Churchill, a curmudgeonly character if ever there was one. He was
ill-mannered most of the time, impatient to the extreme, rude and demanding. Of
all the witticisms attributed to Churchill, the one best known was in 1946 when
he was attending a dinner party where Bessie Braddock, the rather plump leader
of the Labour Party of Britain at the time, said to Churchill, “Winston, you
are drunk.” “Madam,” he said, “you are ugly, and I will be sober in the
morning.”
But
in May of 1940 the British were facing insurmountable odds. Parliament was
preparing to enter into peace negotiations, effectually surrendering to the
Germans. Winston Churchill would have none of that. The king of England at that
time was King George the VI, who initially wanted nothing to do with Churchill
and was opposed to him becoming the prime minister. But as he saw Churchill’s
grit and determination, the King pledged his support, and as they say, the rest
is history.
Throughout
the movie there are numerous bits of delightful humor that had Isaura and me
laughing out loud at times. It balanced the serious nature of the movie’s
storyline perfectly.
One
of the bits of history I had never known before was how Neville Chamberlain became
instrumental in changing Parliaments decision to reject the terms of peace, and,
instead to fight Germany at all costs. Unfortunately, Chamberlain will be
forever stuck with the “peace in our time” assurance, but at crunch-time he did
support the unpopular Churchill who was determined to fight Germany.
One
of the great acts of history was the manner in which the British people saved
their army. The military leaders were paralyzed in taking any action in
rescuing their stranded army, only eighty miles across the English Channel. Churchill
asked the English people to take their personal water craft and sail to Dunkirk
(Dunkerque in French). Thousands of boats came across the water, rescuing nearly
all 300,000 British troops. Some boats were so small that they could only carry
a few troops per crossing.
Winston
Churchill is the sort of person you need in a moment of crisis. He was a master
in knowing how to invigorate and challenge the British people to courageously
stand against the military might of Germany. This, at a time when every other
European country was either remaining neutral or had already been conquered by
the well-equipped and well-trained German army.
I
know very little about actors these days, but I will say that Gary Oldman, who
played Winston Churchill, was absolutely amazing. The rest of the supporting
cast was equally well placed. Isaura turned to me at one point in the movie and
said, “I think that’s an actual film of Churchill.” It wasn’t, but the filming
was so well done that it made you feel as though it was.
Another
poignant part in the film was the phone conversations Churchill had with
American President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Churchill implored FDR to come to
England’s rescue, to no avail. In fact, the United States did not enter the war
until Sunday, December 7, 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese.
The next day, Monday, December 8, Germany declared war on the United States.
Nearly two years had passed since Britain’s darkest hour.
Grit
and determination are characteristic of the Brits. This movie portrays this in
spades. And Winston Churchill was the King of Spades when it came to grit and just
plain cussedness.
Go
see the movie, Darkest Hour. You’ll be glad you did.
Happy
New Year!
No comments:
Post a Comment