Darkest Hour Preview

In the 1930s, Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) spearheaded the efforts to warn about the dangers of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Germany.  After Neville Chamberlain's retirement in May of 1940, Churchill became Prime Minister of Great Britain, in the early days of World War II.  In the early stages of the war in 1940 and 1941, the British Empire was nearly alone in their opposition to Hitler, and Churchill's speeches and radio broadcasts were a source of inspiration in this dark time.  One of his most famous and inspirational speeches included "we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."

Darkest Hour is the historical story of the early days of World War II as Hitler began his conquest of Western Europe.  Churchill had warned about this and now Great Britain was all but solitary in their defiance of the Nazis.  Hitler sent his Deputy Rudolph Hess to offer a peace treaty.  Hitler would stop his war with Western Europe provided that Great Britain did not interfere with his plans to move east and conquer the USSR.  While the odds were greatly stacked against him, and he faced opposition from officials in his own country who doubted his abilities, and even doubted them himself at times, Churchill rejected the offer.  He did not feel Hitler could be trusted to keep his word, and he felt that by standing firm against the Nazis, he could help keep Western Europe unified and pave the way for eventual intervention and help from the United States.

Director Joe Wright is no stranger to epic historical and moving stories as he has already tackled Pride & Prejudice, Anna Karenina, and Atonement which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Directing in 2008.  While Atonement did win for Best Picture, Wright lost out to Julian Schnabel who directed The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.  While neither Darkest Hour nor Joe Wright have been nominated for a Golden Globe, Oldman has been nominated for his portrayal of Winston Churchill.

If the movie holds up to the preview, then Oldman indeed is worthy of the nomination in a dramatic and powerful performance.  And if Wright's previous work is a testament to what we can expect, then audiences are in for a moving, gripping and tense look behind the scenes of the early days of World War II.  I have high expectations for Darkest Hour and am giving a 4 Star Prediction.  I think it will be well worth the money in the theatres, something I'd watch again, and has a good chance of making it to my home collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.