Darkest Hour (2017) [Movie Review]

Dir: Joe Wright
Starring: Gary Oldman,
Dur: 2 hrs 5 mins
Genre: War Drama
Rating: 8/10

It not very often that you come across a thrilling historical drama. The team that worked on this project gave it their all to produce perhaps the best drama film of the year. The film received numerous accolades and was chosen as the Best Film by Critics. The film has a poignant character and weighs heavy with the tension of World War II. It basically chronicles Britain’s political leaders struggle to grapple with the degrading situation brought on by Nazi Germany and the World War. It begins with the ousting of PM, Neville Chamberlain and the handing over of the reins to Winston Churchill.

Make no mistake, Churchill is hailed as one of the greatest PM of all time but the film tries to stay true to the facts, which basically consists of he not being a very popular person especially in the upper echelons of British government. The film is centred around the character of Churchill, and documents his struggle to lead a nation over impending disaster, destruction and wanton violence. He was a great speaker but his great speeches don’t make the cut. Instead we are given a few of his speeches; the ones perhaps that caused the most unrest and controversy. No effort is made to paint Churchill as a hero. What he was is left entirely up to the viewers decision. Even the fact that he was defeated in elections soon after the war is revealed albeit in a pre credit frame.

The acting is brilliant; the drama tense and the whole plot tightly wound around the drama that was the British response to Nazi Germany’s decimating attacks. The film deserves every award it received and is a must watch for history and drama lovers. If you’ve watched Dunkirk than you will be in a better position to understand the tension that is played out in the latter part of the film. The film works vice versa for Dunkirk. Don’t let the summer go by without watching this fantastic thriller.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Great Grand Masti 2 (2016) (Movie Review)

Image
Dir: Indra Kumar Starring: Vivek Oberoi, Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Urvashi Rautela Dur: 2 hrs 10 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: 1/10 Comment: The jokes, gestures and costumes are sexually suggestive. An absolute waste of time. “What an opening line”, you might think. But to say otherwise would be an absolute lie. This film is in fact, a great grand waste of time. It’s horrible whichever way you look at it. The story is weak and thrives on cheap thrills and sorry jokes. The actresses are no doubt eye-catching but the rest is all a blur. The comedy is in fact tragedy and the film attempts to play on the basest desires of man. It’s unbelievable that actors like Riteish and Vivek would do such a film. I am not a big fan of bollywood but I still feel bad when I see bollywood making films like these. All of a sudden, I see that sex is being propagated through Indian cinema. The views of sex are changing and filmmakers and actors are not hesitating to take on unconvent
Read more

The Challenge of Mercy

Image
Pope Francis has declared this as the year of mercy, and up until now plenty of reflections have been preached and published on mercy. Perhaps each of us too have made our own reflection on the theme of mercy. Since the inauguration of the year, my mind has often reverted to this theme. Every night when I make an examination of conscience, I evaluate myself: my thoughts, words and deeds vis-à-vis mercy. I realize that I am not merciful most of the time and that I resort to do what benefits me over the merciful thing. Pope Francis realized that the Church needed to revisit the theme of mercy; to reflect upon it and put it into practice. Mercy is at the heart of the Gospel. Jesus is the personified revelator of the Father’s mercy. Through his words and deeds he suffused the scent of mercy. His teachings on mercy are appreciated and continue to inspire people even today. The Church itself was founded on mercy: Christ became the expiation for our sins (1 Jn 4:10; Heb 2:17). He for
Read more

Andadhun (2018) [Movie Review]

Image
Dir: Sriram Raghavan Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Radhika Apte and Tabu Dur: 2 hrs 18 mins Genre: Black Comedy Crime Thriller Rating: 3/10 I watched this film on good recommendations. It was hailed as one of the best films of 2018. The mystery surrounding the film went well with the mystery that was actually the film itself. I learnt a hard lesson after watching this film and that is not to go by what other’s say about a film. Given Bollywood’s film making standards, I should not have been surprised. Yet, I found myself pleasantly surprised at the end product. Andadhun tells a complex tale of blindness in a world that is not blind even though it appears so. Confused? Well then, watching the film is not going to make it any better. This film is a classical example of postmodern film-making. It is replete with ample plot twists that don’t allow you to settle into its tricky narrative. Just when you think you have it all figured out, a new twist emerges and challe
Read more