'Darkest Hour': Gary Oldman's Great Solo Show

Kiana 2022-03-26 09:01:04

"Darkest Hour" recommendation index: ★★★☆☆

Abstract: The film tells the story of Winston Churchill, who was appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in jeopardy during World War II, defeated the appeasementists such as former Prime Minister Chamberlain, organized the Dunkirk retreat, resolutely resisted the fascist aggression, and led Britain out of the darkest moment in history. Highly recommended to watch with Dunkirk. The film was directed by the famous British director Joe Wright, and Gary Oldman played Churchill, and won the double Oscar and Golden Globe Award for his wonderful performance. In addition to Gary Oldman's wonderful performance, "Amelie", "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" photographer Bruno Delbonnell's photography is also very good, there is no denying that this film is bound to become another This is a classic biographical film and a World War II-themed story film, but it is similar to "Moonlight", because the historical biography is relatively small and one star is dropped.

Some people say that there are three kinds of actors in this world, namely male actors, actresses and British actors... Yes, British actors are such a bug in this world, even in Hollywood in the United States, British actors are half the sky, Superman He is a British actor, Batman is a British actor, Spider-Man is also a British actor, and he is also a British actor who plays US President Lincoln, and is the only British actor Daniel Day-Lewis who has won three Oscars for best actor.

But today I'm talking about another old British drama bone, Gary Oldman, known as the dog father. Dracula in "Four Hundred Years", the perverted cop in "This killer is not too cold", Sirius in "Harry Potter", Sheriff Gordon in "Batman" trilogy... …Gary has left behind many great roles in film history, but it wasn’t until 2011 that he was nominated for the 84th Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. In 2018, 60-year-old Gary finally got his wish and won the first little golden man in his life, which is comparable to the little plum in 2016. In his Oscars speech, Gary happily said "I got an Oscar" to his 99-year-old mother who was watching TV at home and still looked like a cute boy.

I have to say, this movie got me thinking while watching it. First of all, I naturally think of Nolan's "Dunkirk". "Dunkirk" is a war-oriented drama, and "Darkest Hour" is a biography. The two are different in the same story. From an angle, "Darkest Hour" focuses on Churchill's difficult choices in politics, while "Dunkirk" reflects the real experience of the 400,000 boys on the map, so these two films are very suitable together. Watch, there is also a great god on the YouTube who made a very burning mixed cut. Video address: https://www.bilibili.com/video/av17953823/

Secondly, this movie is too easy to think of "The Destruction of the Empire", in which the famous fragment of the anger of the head of state has long been played by netizens. The two films also take us into the two heads of state through the perspective of typists. The story behind the war.

Fury of the Führer

In the end, the film can't help but remind me of my country's experience during World War II. Previously, we only learned about Britain's World War II from a few words in the middle school history book. After watching this movie and entering that period of history, we found that Chamberlain's appeasement policy could be so "right". Perhaps for future generations to examine that period of history, it is a simple decision as 1+1=2 that Britain should resist Nazi-fascism and the Communist Party should resist the Kuomintang reactionaries. However, people in the historical process often cannot see so far, and often Conservative rightism will be adopted, which further demonstrates the foresight of great men like Churchill and Chairman Mao that transcended the limitations of the times.

Winston Churchill, this is the most important and greatest person in British history. Before watching "Darkest Hour", I couldn't think of any actor in this world who could perfectly recreate the history. Churchill, especially Gary Oldman, who is still so handsome at 60 years old, but he used his great acting skills to make me kneel after watching the movie. Before the movie started, I began to believe that this was Churchill himself. God restores. Of course, there are always cigars and whiskey with Churchill, in this film Gary smokes 12 cigars a day, and the film cost just $30,000 to buy cigars...

Gary Oldman, 60

Gary's wonderful and great acting skills cannot be described too much in words, and can only be enjoyed frame by frame in the movie, but for the slightly niche and boring biographical films of historical figures, the protagonist's acting skills alone may not be enough. Fortunately, in addition to Gary's wonderful performance, the photography of Bruno Del Bonnell, the photographer of "Amelie" and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", is also excellent, with various lens languages ​​of push, pull, shake and toss. Extremely rich and varied, it can be regarded as an example of a whole textbook on cinematography, and Bruno was again nominated for the Oscar for Best Cinematography. Let's take a closer look.

Generally speaking, the routine of the film likes to put the protagonist in the first character in the opening scene, so that the audience can quickly establish a sense of substitution, and this film is obviously hidden in the dark for five minutes. The intensifying light behind the curtains made for a wonderful appearance for Churchill.

In the camera angle of this film, the bird's-eye view has been widely used. The opening of the film starts from a bird's-eye angle and descends into a horizontal angle of panoramic shot. Later, a bird's-eye view angle is also used several times to express the historical process. God's perspective.

I closed my eyes for the rotation jump. In addition to the bird's-eye view of the jump, rotation and panning often appear with longer lenses.

When Churchill first took office, this long shot of hand-held follow-up was very cool.

There are silhouettes and frame compositions, especially the two frame compositions below, which fully highlights Churchill's anger and helplessness in the darkest hour.

In terms of scenes, the long shot has been used in the large close-up that is not very common in today's movies, which often appears in thrillers with strong artistic effects.

When it comes to cinematography, how can we do without the lighting of the light. There are three parliamentary scenes in the film, and three times different lighting is used to accentuate the chiaroscuro.

The first time is the opening of the film. The then British Prime Minister Chamberlain adopted a policy of appeasement against fascism, which led to Germany's continuous victories in Europe, which caused dissatisfaction from the British up and down. When the House of Commons impeached Chamberlain in Parliament, the leader of the House of Commons was in the light. Among them, Chamberlain and the House of Lords hide in the shadows. The second time was Churchill's inaugural speech, when the light had been adjusted to Churchill's body. The last time is Churchill's speech at the end of the film. This time the light is still biased towards Churchill, but in the center of the light is the Speaker of Parliament and the parliamentary table. It can be seen that the dawn of the country has come.

For Churchill, the plot in "Darkest Hour" is not from the darkness at the beginning to the light at the end. Churchill thought from a young age that he could become the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom one day. This was his childhood dream, but at 65 At the age of 20, Churchill still had a bad career. It was not until Chamberlain was impeached that Churchill was forced to take office. Therefore, when Churchill first took office, the atmosphere of the film was relatively relaxed and pleasant, and the long shot of Churchill looking out of the window in the car was also relatively bright and cheerful. .

And what he is about to face after taking office is the worst mess in British history, an ignorant people, a political enemy who advocates appeasement, a monarch who doesn't trust him, and he had no choice but to give up the war at this darkest moment. Considering the peace talks, the scenery when he looked out the window in the car at this time was a gloomy rainy day.

Churchill faced the king who distrusted him in the film is the George VI in the 2011 Oscar's best film "The King's Speech". In this film, the two also had three separate meetings, and the relationship between the characters and the camera lens was also It is worth pondering carefully.

The first time we met was when Churchill took office. At this time, he used an inward shot. George VI did not believe this old man with a bad political record. After Churchill kissed the king's hand, the king still rubbed his back. The second time was when the two had breakfast in the middle of the film, and they still used the front and back shots, but after a period of time, the relationship between the two had eased, and they could reveal their sincerity. The king bluntly said that Churchill made him feel scared. The third time was when the king went to Churchill's residence at night and frankly supported his war proposition. At this time, the relationship between the two characters also became a more intimate foreign counterattack.

In addition to cigars and whiskey, the film also recreates Churchill's famous scissorhands Pose and several famous speeches, and the film ends with a heart-warming "We will never surrender" speech.

Finally, the translation of the three famous speeches in the film is attached:

All I can offer is blood, hard work, sweat and tears.

We will fight to the end. We will fight in France, we will fight in the sea, we will fight in the air with increasing confidence and strength, we will defend our homeland at all costs, we will fight on the beaches, we will fight in the We will fight in the fields and in the streets, we will fight in the mountains.

We will never surrender, even if our island or a large part of it is conquered and starved - I never believed this to happen - our imperial subjects overseas, armed and protected by the British fleet And will continue to fight until the new world, when God sees fit, uses all its might to save and liberate the old world.


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Extended Reading

Darkest Hour quotes

  • Winston Churchill: D'you know, I've never ridden a bus? I've never queued for bread. I believe I can boil an egg... but only because I've seen it done. The only time I tried riding the Underground was during the General Strike. Clemmie dropped me off at South Kensington station. I went down but got lost. I came straight back up! It was awful.

  • [having accepted the post of Prime Minister, Churchill must now have regular meetings with the King]

    Sir Anthony Eden: You only have to meet him once a week.

    Winston Churchill: But that's like saying you only have to have your tooth pulled once a week.