Darkest Hour

[Toddlerteaplease]

Anyone seen this. I thought it was brilliant! Really tense, even though we know what happened.

[MonumentalAlabaster]

Yes it was brilliant and a complete tour de force by Gary Oldman - his performance built gradually to an ineffable climax. I found myself very moved and unexpectedly cried at several points, especially the fate of the men in the garrison at Calais and the way Churchill had to sacrifice them.

[Gonegrey31]

Go and see it ! Extraordinary performance by Gary Oldman as Churchill. Interesting too that the Churchill grandchildren have all said what a true portrayal of Clemmie it depicts .

[lostinspaceyetagain]

I was very bleughh about it. I was clock watching and so were a lot of the cinema-no-one hung around to discuss it at the end which happens with a great film. Gary Oldman was amazing- brilliant but the whole film just dragged. I think there have been too many similar WW2 films recently and the topic was stale.

[NewYearNiki]

I agree with PP. Too many war films lately and I found it very boring.

Felt no tension at all as we all knew what happened.

[Lokisglowstickofdestiny]

I thought the acting was superb, but the scene in the Tube was awful. Completely fabricated to explain the decision he made - it felt like Sliding Doors, don't go down to the Tube - war goes one way, go down to the Tube war goes another way - spoiled the film for me.

[SoleBizzz]

Loved every bit of this movie! Superb.

[Davros]

We saw it tonight and thought it was great. I assumed the tube scene was symbolic.

[HastingsLikeTheBattle]

JUst saw it today and absolutely loved it. Even more so as I saw Dunkirk recently as well. Gary Oldman is just outstanding

[megletthesecond]

Really enjoyed it, lots of damp eyes from me too. Agree with davros about the tube scene, best considered as symbolic / a dream.

Gary Oldmans prosthetic make up is immaculate. Done by a legendary artist, Kazuhiro Tsuji I believe.

[citykat]

Thought it flew by and was gripped even though knew what happened. Glad you've saved me the time of googling if the tube scene was real- seemed unlikely! Thought maybe GO's accent slipped a tiny bit into estuary/ cockney at one point but overall was really engaging and DC 13 and 11 liked it too

[Fairylea]

I loved it!

Thought it provided an interesting insight into the workings of the cabinet etc at the time. I really enjoyed the relationship between Churchill and his secretary too.

[alseb]

I thought it was fantastic. I have checked about the Tube scene. Apparently he did go out and speak with members of the public so who knows. I thought it was amazing and I was really moved by it.

[raisedbyguineapigs]

I enjoyed it even though I thought it dragged a bit for me before the tube scene. Even though it was ridiculous it did serve as a jolt and stopped me clock watching. I had heard mixed reviews about the film overall but the criticisms, that it was just political shennanegans I quite like in general so I went to see it. I have however started rewatching series 1 of The Crown and for me, the palace scenes suffered from being not as good as the Crown and the King actor being not as good as Jared Harris. I even thought that in those scenes, when compared with John Lithgow, GO wasnt as good, although without the comparisons in the other scenes, he was excellent.

[ceecee32]

I enjoyed it but also found myself comparing it the The Crown and feeling that it came up short against that series. I found it very hard to accept the King as he certainly wasn't as good as Jared Harris - also amused to see the actor who played Tommy Lassiter from the Crown in the film.
Overall it was very good - but they should have used the actors from the Crown!

[citykat]

Not seen the Crown but I thought the King looked just like Prince Andrew and it was a great family likeness🙂

[JapaneseBirdPainting]

Saw it this evening and absolutely loved it. It was always going to be an easy win for me as I adore Gary Oldman, but it was so good. I never knew how close to surrender we came. DH and I came home and googled the Siege of Calais as neither of us knew much about it (despite both being history buffs).

[BuzzKillington]

I thought it was brilliant.

Gary Oldman kept losing the accent though.

[Toddlerteaplease]

I saw it for the third time yesterday. (My parents and then my friend wanted to see it) still think it's really good. I've been giving The Crown another go. Darkest hour is much better, and I think George Vl is much more true to life.

[Davros]

I have been listening to Munich by Robert Harris which is all about Chamberlain's pursuit of appeasement with a fictional storyline thrown in. It's very good, puts Churchill's approach into context

[madeyemoodysmum]

I loved it.
My fave bit was the speech at the end
The tiger in mouth part and the bit when he sat looking at his secretary as he took on her own sacrifice That really touched me Such a human moment.

Lots a humour too which was a welcome touch.

I hope it gets the oscar.

[CoolCarrie]

John Lithgow is the best Churchill I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a lot, from Simon Ward, who was excellent as a young Churchill, to Gary Oldman tonight, and John Lithgow in The Crown is the best.
I’ve watched Gary Oldman since Sid and Nancy days,and he is a brilliant actor, but the tone of his voice wasn’t right, same with his accent, I did enjoy it,but it didn’t move me like Dundirk did, which is a wonderful film.

[sakura06]

I thought Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas were superb. I did enjoy it, and many parts were very moving, such as the siege of Calais and the little boats in the Channel. The pressure must have been immense. I did feel I've seen rather enough of Churchill and this period though with The Crown and Dunkirk. Darkest Hour made me want to immediately re-watch Dunkirk!

[Slartybartfast]

i have just seen it, quite emotional at the tube scene. so well acted. as was the whole film imo.
is it true about Chamberlain just putting out the white handkerchief to mop his brow, or was he hedging his bets

[Toddlerteaplease]

I'm not sure that in 1940 that a black person would have been quite as included in the conversation as was portrayed. Peoples views were very different back then.

[Amie021]

Have you seen a film called Leon made in 1994? It has a very young Natalie Portman, Jean Reno and a very crazy Gary Oldman! He plays a complete nutter and it is a very intense violent film.