"What if Churchill made peace with Hitler?"
Seeing similar discussions around "Darkest Hour", I felt a little speechless. Even today, when you can look back at history with the rearview mirror and God's perspective, there are still people who have fantasies about Hitler's bastard. "The Darkest Hour", which shows Britain shivering under the Nazi power for a period of time, is a film with great contagion and emotional tension, but it also highlights Churchill's character and spiritual strength so much that people even regard it as a film. Gambler, is that really true?
The background of "Darkest Hour" is that Nazi Germany launched an all-out war on the Western Front, showing an "invincible" momentum. What should we do? At that time, Chamberlain, the representative of the appeasement policy, had to step down, but together with Halifax, he was still a "dove" with strong political influence. Chamberlain and Halifax were indeed "blackened" due to the fact that Chamberlain's image in the Munich Conference was really not glorious, and the film highlighted Churchill's needs. In fact, Chamberlain still made considerable achievements in internal affairs, especially some advocates for the rights of civilians, making him a "friend of workers".
However, diplomatically, in the confrontation with Hitler, the Chamberlains were real "gamblers". Judging from later historical materials, Chamberlain was not ignorant of Hitler's greed, but in Hitler's step-by-step temptation, the Chamberlains believed again and again that "this time is different", to seek skin from tigers, and even Fantasizing about "catastrophe", trying to make Hitler consume the Soviet Union. From this point of view, the Chamberlains not only lacked sufficient political vision, but also fell into a common political dead end: path dependence, because Hitler can "feed" with a small bet and have to continue betting. Aren't the Chamberlains thinking of England? Of course not. In the film, we can see how hard Halifax persuaded Churchill to persuade Churchill. The logic also makes sense. Why not talk about such a powerful German army and let him fight with the Soviet Union? , we hide our strengths and bide our time. Even if we can't have a good time with Germany, we can win the "strategic buffer period" before fighting.
Therefore, at a turning point in history, someone needs to see the situation clearly, and more importantly, someone needs to stick to it to the end, and Churchill, who has a somewhat "axis" character, stands in the foreground. The Churchill portrayed in the film is different from the one portrayed by mainstream media channels. He is no longer a simple British tough guy with a pipe in his mouth. Using a typist to elicit Churchill is really a brilliant stroke, a tired but still active Churchill debuts, but immediately returns to the world. Yes, the keynote of this film is "to promote first, to suppress", Churchill is no longer as confident as we have seen from historical pictures, but a determined but also burnt and exhausted old man. In the film, there are not many dramatic conflicts between Churchill and Halifax. The two always embody a kind of "professional" communication, but in times of crisis, this rhythm reflects a kind of anxiety feel. At the same time, the iron hoofs of the Nazis are trampling on France, the troops gathered in Dunkirk are at stake, and Churchill's insistence on fighting has been questioned by the British youth who lost their lives.
It is in the sufficient foreshadowing and natural background that Churchill's sense of loneliness is deeply reflected, and the whole process also lays a foreshadowing: all these disputes and decisions are essentially an elite "infighting". When Halifax accused Churchill of caring for the lives of young British people, how did British civilians feel? Churchill is not a "gambler", he has always been a staunch opponent of Nazi Germany, and he is not a bull, but a political veteran full of tenacity and wisdom. In fact, the reason why Churchill was promoted to the prime minister was the result of the bankruptcy of Chamberlain's policy. Politics must be about strategy, but also "potential". Churchill saw the general trend earlier, and finally waited until more people saw it clearly. The general trend is in itself a result of the precipitation of time and situation. All that is needed is to follow the trend and unite more forces.
The film sets off this gathering of British fighting forces with a dramatic "subway talk". This scene is indeed full of infectious, even provocative, people of different ages, different classes, and different skin colors. Never!", until the end of the film, Churchill's famous speech was enthusiastically reproduced, and the film ended in time, allowing the audience to recall the high-spirited emotions in this predicament. This is the case with excellent historical films. Under the main context of historical facts, appropriate interpretations and details are carried out to reflect the creator's attitude. "Darkest Hour" is an excellent historical biographical film, with routines but not excessive, skillful but not deliberate, and Gary Oldman's performance is really awesome, not much to say, three words: Oscar !
The historical status of a political figure is often not based on how perfect he is. We all know that people who are famous in politics have perfect personalities. While maintaining the bottom line of human nature, decisions and results at historical nodes are the key. Churchill was such a man of judgment and pragmatism, who saw through the essence of Hitler in World War II and fought him to the end. After the war, although Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech was considered to have opened the prelude to the Cold War, it was he who saw through the protracted nature of the struggle with the Soviet Union and the limited nature of Stalin's political demands and Hitler's. He also took the lead in advocating contact with the Soviet Union. In terms of internal affairs, Churchill did not have many bright spots, especially after the war, he did not see the general trend and made timely policy adjustments, which also reflects the limitations of the times that every political figure is difficult to get rid of. However, the embarrassment of his post-war election defeat has no impact on his historical status. Many times, outstanding politicians have their own era. When the era needs it, doing well enough is enough.
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