Skip to main content

The Darkest Hour


"Success is not final.  Failure is not fatal.  What matters is the courage to carry on”.

‘The Darkest Hour' is a film by Joe Wright a Brit, with Gary Oldman starring in the role of Winston Churchill, Britain's Prime Minister during the second war.  The film actually lasted 90 minutes.  Oldman won the leading man Oscar for his role.  

It is a biopic of the PM during the critical period of the war when Britain faces an almost impossible future and tries to capture the essence of the man that was an unlikely or perhaps accidental candidate to become PM, following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain.

It was by all accounts suicidal to take on that role at that dark moment in history when Hitler had had his run of Europe and strangled the Allied forces.  Churchill's courage and denial to enter into a peace with a fascist was coupled with his King's support as he led England into war.

King George VI's shy nature is in contrast with and offset by Churchill’s willingness to cast himself as the nation’s savior in this cinematic depiction of the relationship between the two.  Another alliance of sorts the film focused on is Churchill and his secretary, Elizabeth Lawton.  When they first meet she is afraid of Churchill's temper and eruptions.  She eventually gets comfortable with him and is able to point out in a moment of levity in the film that he is hard to understand (in part due to his lisp and pronounced habit of chomping on a cigar) and that he mumbles a lot.

Some other light moments attributed to Churchill in the film -

When asked by the King how he can manage to drink all day long and function - Churchill replied "Practice".

When asked after his appointment as PM whether they can meet at 4 pm - Churchill replied that it was his nap time.  King is bewildered and asks if that is permissible.  Churchill promptly responds that it is not but is essential.  Then almost apologetically adds that he stays late working.

 PS:  Churchill's oratory and language skill cannot be doubted when he famously also said that history will be kind to me, because I intend to write it.  And that he did.  

 As a dark and perhaps hypocritical side of this personality his policies toward the crown jewel of India (which was governed by Imperial Britain at the time) post WWII and his treatment of Indians during a period of famine besmirch his otherwise audacious desire (with the Russians coming to his aid) to destroy Hitler.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Of Jims and Johns

Here is another essay on the subject of first names. As in birth names. Or names provided to an offspring at birth. While the developed world tends to shy away from the exotic like Refrigerator or Coca Cola for their new production there is a plethora of Jims and Johns and Bobs or Robs. Speaking of which I do not think there is a categoric decision point at the time of birth if a child will be hereafter called as Bob. I mean have not yet met a toddler called Bob or Rob for that matter. At some point though the parental instinct to mouth out multiple syllables runs out and they switch from calling the crawler Robert to simply Robbie to Rob. Now speaking of - it is strange that the name sounds like something you would not want Rob to do - i.e. Rob anyone. Then why call someone that? After all Rob Peter to Pay Paul is not exactly a maxim to live a young life? Is it? Perhaps Peter or Paul might want to have a say in it? Then there is this matter of going to the John. Why degrad...
2 comments
Read more

Presumptive Society

Today's world is hyper connected.  I am not so sure what it means but you hear it a lot.  It is probably hyper but not sure how connected it is.  Sugar (fermented or not) is available in many ways than before and so getting hyper is easy.  It is probably more a threat than cocaine since it is sold legally. And what is this connected stuff?  Most people I encounter seem disconnected from reality.  So going back to this assumption that we are connected there are subtle and no so subtle instances of how brands and companies and middle men try to portray someone - A linkedin profile for somebody working for X years at a place advertises to the connected network that so and so is CELEBRATING X years @ Such and Such Inc. Do we know if (s)he is celebrating or cringing?  Perhaps a better way to portray will be - So and So LASTED X years @ such & such inc. Then it exhorts the readership to go ahead and congratulate them for this lasting effe...
2 comments
Read more

But What If We're Wrong?

I attempted to read this book by author Chuck Klosterman backward to forward but it started hurting my brain so I decided to stop and do it like any other publication in the English language.  Start from page 1 and move to the right. Witty, caustic and thought provoking this is a book you want to read if you believe that the status quo might, just might be wrong. At times bordering on being contrarian about most things around us it tries to zero in on the notion of what makes anything believable and certain in our minds.  The fact that there is a fact itself is ironic.  Something analogous to the idea that you can never predict the future because there is no future. Many books and movies have tried to play on this concept - best that I recollect (I think I am) was 'The Truman Show'.  This book by Klosterman attempts to provoke the reader to at least contemplate that what they think they know may be wrong. He uses examples like concept of gravity, and how it ...
2 comments
Read more