Early on in World War II the newly appointed Prime Minster Winston Churchill must decide the fate of Great Britain, will he negotiate a deal with Hitler or fight on and never surrender?
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If you watch a lot of the latest releases then you will know that this is now the fourth film about this particular time in WWII history, each falling over these dates. The thing is though I have always loved learning and knowing more about this time period and therefore been throughly enjoying the films that have been released. This one was no different and I found it engaging from start to finish.
So much build up around this film for the incredible Gary Oldman performance and do you know what? It’s even better than you might have heard, he is truly outstanding and if he doesn’t finish off awards season with the Oscar I will be very shocked. I had to keep reminding myself that it was Oldman, you totally forget as he is unrecognisable as Churchill. Something that I think is essential in that type of role he had to become the character and not just be Oldman’s version of Churchill. I hope that makes sense!
Throughout the film we get to see that Winston wasn’t really a popular choice to take over from Chamberlain and he was being well hung out to dry, that didn’t half backfire! I found myself well and truly falling for that charm and by the end of the film and in particular that scene on the Tube I found myself incredibly proud to be British. It really did manage to bring such an incredible feeling over me and that was certainly showing just how good the performance was. I felt close to tears a couple of times as well, which I wasn’t really expecting in all honesty so that was a nice surprise really!
Along with Churchill having to come to terms with the decisions he was having to make we got a small glimpse into his marriage and the relationship with Elizabeth Layton who was his new typist. Something that did not start off very well, the film does push that Clemmie was an essential part of his professional life as well keeping him in check and ensuring he did everything the right and honourable way. This is where I really should be mentioned the performances from Kristin Scott Thomas and Lily James. They were both very good in the roles and totally help compliment Oldman.
He gets some fantastic lines as you might very well expect which you may have heard before but probably not quite like this, something which I was very impressed with. Plenty of references to his love for drinking and smoking cigars. I also liked seeing the development with the King as I thought that helped to show the turning points he was reaching. I guess this is an extremely important film to remember what sacrifices had to be made during World War II, surely if it wasn’t for Churchill we would all be speaking German now?
We shall never surrender!
Let's Go To The Movies 
I got goosebumps in the Tube scene!
Totally agree that if he doesn’t bag the Best Actor Oscar then it is a travesty! My review is up next week 🙂
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Let me know when it is up!
Yeah I had those goosebumps too, outstanding . . . Did it really happen? I haven’t wanted to check lol
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My review is up! 🙂
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As a big fan of history and an Anglophile, I can’t wait to see this film! I just got the Brian Cox film, Churchill, and plan to watch that one soon.
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Yeah I saw that one last year, I enjoyed this one a lot more.
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Loved it too. 🙂 … the lighting in particular really created the mood of the times. Britain was all alone in the dark, facing a monster, with only a few lights to shine the way through.
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Yeah that’s a very good way to think about it a lot of the scenes were very dark and in the different corridors.
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I loved that scene in the Tube. It was probably my favorite of the whole film. That and the “reverse” V for Victory sign! 🙂 This movie reminded me a lot of the movie “Lincoln” that came out a few years back. Excellent acting – you forgot it was Oldman! Great review, thanks for posting.
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Glad the tube scene was your favourite scene as well. Oh yes when she was explaining to him what the reverse V meant haha, that was really funny.
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I really enjoyed the film as well, I feel we are not taught certain things about our country’s history and politics when we are at school so it is brilliant to be entertained and learn at the same time!
I was unsure going into watching the film what I was going to feel about Gary Oldman in all the prosthetics, as an actor I feel I am slightly against them unless it’s to create a character that doesn’t look human – Voldemort in Harry Potter for example. So I am still unsure as to why they didn’t hire someone who slightly resembled what they were after. Saying this, I thought Gary Oldman did an amazing job, but having watched The Crown, I think I prefer John Lithgow’s interpretation of Churchill.
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I think it was essential to make him look more like Churchill. I went to see the film last year with Brian Cox in the role and he just looked like Brian Cox. I thought to believe it was a film about Churchill we had to forget it was Oldman.
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This is an interesting point, I forget some actors are them even when I watch them in other roles even when the aren’t covered in prosthetics so it’s interesting that with figures like Churchill it is more important to forget who the actor is.
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