Darkest Hour (2017)

Director: Joe Wright
Writer: Anthony McCarten
DOP: Bruno Delbonnel
Cast: Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Ben Mendelsohn

During the early days of World War 2, the fate of the Western Europe hangs on the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler, or fight on against incredible odds.

The timeline shown in the films is roughly the same as Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, which ditched all the political moves and took you straight to the battlefront. So this film can be basically seen as a side-piece to that showing the decision making process that was involved leading up to the retreat from Dunkirk. The Conservative party was not that keen on electing Churchill as their PM but there was pressure from Labor to ditch Chamberlain after his appeasement steps towards Hitler was deemed a historical mistake. Even after getting elected as PM, he was under pressure from Chamberlain and his cohorts who were still trying to get him to negotiate instead of a confrontation. The film is basically about Churchill coming to the decision of not to negotiate with Hitler culminating in that famous speech at the Parliament.

Indians do have a special hatred for Churchill often citing his racism and his mishandling of Bengal famine as reasons for it. They tend to view this film through that prism, criticizing it for lionising Churchill. These are the same people who crib about Dunkirk for it not having any Indian soldier on the beach. I wonder whether they also buy tickets for 'Tiger Zinda Hein'. The film doesn't portray Churchill as someone who got everything right. There is reference to his mishandling of famine and Gallipoli setback during first world war. He got Hitler right but many things wrong. A film set in that time period is obviously gonna concentrate on the war angle.

Not saying it is without faults. There is a London tube scene towards the end which is gonna make or break the movie for many. I just cringed through it. It is well worth a watch overall with an amazing central performance from Gary Oldman who is totally unrecognisable. I still would've given the award to Timothée Chalamet as I prefer performances that don't rely on makeups or body transformations. I'm a fan of Joe Wright's 'Atonement' which also had that stunning  Dunkirk tracking shot.

Rating: 3/5

Atonement (2007)

Director: Joe Wright
Writers:  Ian McEwan, Christopher Hampton
Cast:      James McAvoy, Keira Knightley, Brenda Blethyn

A 13 year old girl with writing aspirations wrongly accuses her sister's lover of raping their cousin, irrevocably changing the course of all three of their lives. Film  starts in pre second world war times and story progresses through the wold war with the sisters serving as nurses and the victim of the misunderstanding thrown from prison to the war front.

The first thirty or so minutes of the film progresses like a sleazy comedy film before taking the dark turn with the misunderstanding. It is debatable whether it was actually a misunderstanding or a willful mistake. The film from the start, through different point of view takes of the same event, gives an impression that things are not what they seem. The final convoluted plot twist might rub some people the wrong way but I liked the fact that author through one of his characters explains why he/she did so. Cinematography is excellent and the performances also. There is a five minute single tracking scene of the the Dunkirk beach with 1000 extras which will take your breath away.

It is essentially a 'Painkilli Katha' in the mould of 'Chirakodinja Kinavukal' but with very high production values and period settings. A great watch indeed.

Rating: 4/5