The darkest hour
The darkest hour (original title Darkest Hour ) is a historical film drama by Joe Wright and at the same time a film biography about the first weeks of Winston Churchill as British Prime Minister in the initial phase of the Second World War . The film, which premiered on September 1, 2017 at the Telluride Film Festival , was released in US cinemas on December 25, 2017 and in German cinemas on January 18, 2018. Gary Oldman received a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar for best actor for his impersonation of Churchill .
action
The initial failures of the Allies in World War II triggered a cabinet crisis in Great Britain in early May 1940. Conservative Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain is blamed for the UK's poor preparation for war and is forced to resign. Most Conservatives consider Lord Halifax , another representative of the appeasement policy towards Nazi Germany, to be his natural successor . The opposition Labor Party under Clement Attlee is only willing to join an all-party government on condition that the previous First Lord of the Admiralty , Winston Churchill, takes over its leadership. Churchill always rejected Chamberlain's policy of appeasement, warned early on of Germany's aggressive expansion policy and is therefore considered a resolute and uncompromising opponent of Hitler . His party friends consider him reckless, daring and irresponsible. Nevertheless - and despite his own skepticism - King George VI appoints . Churchill as the new Prime Minister on May 10.
From the first day of his term in office, Churchill was faced with almost insurmountable challenges: In the western campaign , the Wehrmacht overran the Netherlands , Belgium and Luxembourg within a few days . It includes large parts of the French army and almost the entire British expeditionary force on the Channel coast near Dunkirk . The Allies face a devastating defeat and a German invasion of Great Britain looms. The film now shows Churchill's struggle on several fronts: On the one hand, he must try by all means to evacuate at least parts of the British army from the Dunkirk pocket; on the other hand, he must maintain the confidence of the British people that a victory is still possible and an invasion is to be prevented. The prerequisite for this is - and this is Churchill's third task - that he succeeds in withstanding the pressure and intrigues from his own party. Because the wing of the party around Lord Halifax is ready to consider a negotiated peace with Hitler while abandoning Western Europe. Supported only by his wife Clementine , close confidante like Anthony Eden , but ultimately also by the king, Churchill enforces his policy of resistance at all costs. The Operation Dynamo starts were saved with almost all British soldiers from Dunkirk, and the film ends with Churchill's famous House of speech, " We shall fight on the beaches " of 4 June 1940 has strengthened the staying power of the UK population.
production
Background and film title
The historical background of the film is the early phase of the Second World War, when large parts of Western Europe were overrun by the German Wehrmacht in the spring of 1940 and Great Britain was also on the verge of defeat. In its assessment of the historical events of these days, the film is essentially based on the portrayal of the historian John Lukacs and his work " Five Days in London ". Lukacs saw the decisive turning point of the war in the fact that Churchill had prevailed in the dispute over the correct war strategy against Halifax. This prevented a victory for Hitler and made the later victory of the Allies possible in the first place.
The formulation "Darkest Hour" (German for: "Darkest Hour") comes from the speech " This Was Their Finest Hour " (German: "This was their best hour"), which Winston Churchill gave on June 18, 1940 in the British House of Commons. The subject of this speech was the emerging military defeat of France after the fall of Paris. Churchill described this situation as the "darkest hour in French history". At the same time, the speech made the unbroken resistance of the British government clear. It was broadcast over and over again at the time and helped maintain British morale. Churchill's formulation went down in history.
Staff and cast
The screenplay was written by Anthony McCarten , who was nominated for an Oscar in 2015 for the same work on Discovery of Infinity . Directed by Joe Wright , who at apologize has made a film set in the days of Dunkirk.
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The score was composed by Dario Marianelli , with whom Wright has worked several times. Marianelli's work is of rare beauty, said David Ehrlich of Indie Wire , and holds the film together. In apology , Marianelli used the noises of a typewriter and in The Darkest Hour a pencil scratching to create a certain mood. For Sidney Schering fromquotemeter.de , the credits suite is one of the most striking musical moments of the film year 2018. The soundtrack for the film, which includes 19 pieces of music, was released on November 17, 2017 by Deutsche Grammophon .
Gary Oldman plays the lead role as Winston Churchill. His son Randolph is portrayed by Jordan Waller and Churchill's wife Clementine by Kristin Scott Thomas . Ben Mendelsohn plays King George VI. Because of his cancer, from which he died in early 2017, John Hurt was unable to take on the role of Neville Chamberlain for him. Instead of him, Ronald Pickup took on this role. Churchill's chief of staff, General Ismay , was taken over by Richard Lumsden . Nicholas Jones is seen as Lord Chancellor John Simon , who was a proponent of appeasement. Lily James can be seen in the historical role of Elizabeth Nel (1919–2009), Winston Churchill's private secretary during the Second World War - Nel did not take up her position in the summer of 1940, as shown in the film, but only in May 1941 on. Hannah Steele as a subway passenger Abigail Walker and Charley Palmer Rothwell as photographer Miles Aldridge are seen in smaller roles .
synchronization
The German dubbing was based on a dialog book and directed by Axel Malzacher at Interopa Film GmbH, Berlin. In the German version, as in a number of earlier films, Udo Schenk speaks Gary Oldman in the role of Winston Churchill, and Traudel Haas his wife Clementine. Torsten Michaelis lends King George VI. his vote and Fred Maire to the outgoing Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.
Filming and production design
Filming took place in Yorkshire , Greenwich and at the Bicester Aerodrome in Oxfordshire , where aircraft were recorded, also in Manchester Town Hall in Albert Square and the John Rylands Library of the University of Manchester . The production design created Sarah Greenwood along with Katie Spencer .
publication
The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on September 1, 2017 and was presented at the Toronto International Film Festival from September 10, 2017 . The film was released in US cinemas on December 25, 2017 and in German cinemas on January 18, 2018.
reception
Age rating
In the US, the film was rated PG-13 by the MPAA . In Germany the film is FSK 6 . The statement of reasons for the release states: “The film paints a predominantly differentiated, also humorous picture of the historical figure, concentrates in detailed dialogues on the political world and only shows the horrors of war in short scenes. Preschoolers can still overwhelm these short scenes, but older ones are able to distance themselves sufficiently, as they do not have any too explicit images and are well embedded in calm and explanatory scenes. "
Reviews and grossing results
The film has so far won over 84 percent of Rotten Tomatoes critics .
Peter Debruge of Variety says that the film balances the triumphs of the great public speaker with private moments in which Winston Churchill is full of self-doubt. Thomas Palzer of MDR Kultur says that director Joe Wright created a brilliant memorial to this with his film: "A masterfully crafted chamber play, whose lead actor Gary Oldman has the eccentric British Prime Minister Winston Churchill resurrected in an impressive way."
After the first photos of Gary Oldman in his role as the new British Prime Minister were published, Sabienna Bowman of bustle.com said that his shocking transformation into Winston Churchill would certainly get him into the race for best actor at the 2018 Academy Awards .
Hartmut Wilmes from General-Anzeiger explains, thanks to the make-up prosthetics made of silicone, you don't see a doppelganger, but an astonishing resemblance that is believable even in the close-up, which Oldman masterfully fills with life: “Everything is there: this ruthless energy Churchill barks at his opponents, the dry sense of humor, the ingenious ruse, for example when evacuating the Dunkirk troops with civilian ships. "
The German Film and Media Assessment (FBW) gave the film the rating of particularly valuable . The jury's statement said: “In terms of film, Die Dunkelste Stunden pulls out all the stops and, in addition to Wright's penchant for epic narrative cinema, also shows moments of silence and privacy, which paint a multi-layered portrait of a great politician and fallible person, whose qualities only become a viewer learn to appreciate over time. In view of these difficulties, however, The Darkest Hour should not only be read as a cinematic biography and period piece, but rather protrudes into our present day. "
The worldwide revenue of the film from theatrical screenings so far amounts to 144.9 million US dollars. So far, the film has had 400,007 visitors in Germany.
Use in school lessons
The online portal kinofenster.de recommends the darkest hour for the subjects history, English, German and politics and offers materials for the film for the class. There Philipp Bühler writes that in addition to questions of the staging, the speeches of the later Nobel Prize winner for literature could also be discussed, whereby he explicitly mentions his speech Blood, Sweat and Tears . In German and English, the analysis of selected speeches can be used to examine which rhetorical means politicians use and what they achieve with their words. With a view to current political debates, it is also possible to discuss what young people expect from today's politicians, Bühler added. In spring 2019 the film will be presented as part of the SchulKinoWochen in Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia.
Awards (selection)
On December 18, 2017, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that Dario Marianelli's work was on a shortlist from which the nominations for the Best Film Music category at the 2018 Academy Awards were made. At around the same time, the Academy announced that the film was also in the shortlist, from which the nominees in the categories of Best Make-up and Best Hairstyles were determined. Below is a selection of nominations and awards from other film awards.
American Society of Cinematographers Awards 2018
- Nomination for Best Film - Theatrical Release ( Bruno Delbonnel )
Art Directors Guild Awards 2018
- Nomination for the Excellence in Production Design Award in the Period Film category ( Sarah Greenwood )
British Academy Film Awards 2018
- 9 nominations, 2 awards for leading actor and mask
Critics' Choice Movie Awards 2018
- Nomination for best film
- Award as Best Actor ( Gary Oldman )
- Award for the best hair & make-up
- Nomination for the best film music (Dario Marianelli)
- Nomination for the Audience Award ( Joe Wright )
- Award as Best Actor (Gary Oldman)
Hollywood Music in Media Awards 2017
- Nomination in the category Original Score: Feature Film (Dario Marianelli)
Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society Awards 2018
- Nomination for Best Cinematography (Bruno Delbonnel)
- Nomination for Best Actor (Gary Oldman)
- Nomination for Best Picture (Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten and Douglas Urbanski)
- Award as Best Actor (Gary Oldman)
- Nomination for Best Cinematography (Bruno Delbonnel)
- Nomination for Best Production Design (Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer)
- Nomination for the best costumes (Jacqueline Durra)
- Award for the best make-up and the best hairstyles (Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick)
Palm Springs Film Fest 2017
- Received the Desert Palm Achievement Award (Gary Oldman)
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards 2017
- Award as Best Actor (Gary Oldman)
- Nomination for the best film music
- Nomination for the best camera
- Award for Best Film Actor (Gary Oldman)
- Nomination for Best Cinematography (Bruno Delbonnel)
- Nomination for Best Film Editing ( Valerio Bonelli )
- Nomination for the best sound
Screen Actors Guild Awards 2018
- Award as Best Actor (Gary Oldman)
Web links
- The darkest hour in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The darkest hour in the German dubbing file
- The darkest hour - Official German website for the film by Universal Pictures Germany
- Darkest Hour in the program of the Toronto International Film Festival (English)
- Darkest Hour - Official Trailer 1 from Universal Pictures UK on Youtube (Video, English)
- Darkest Hour - Screenplay for the film by Focus Features (PDF)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for The Darkest Hour . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF; test number: 174822 / K).
- ↑ Age rating for The Darkest Hour . Youth Media Commission .
- ↑ John Lukacs: Five days in London. England and Germany in May 1940 , Siedler-Verlag, Berlin 2000
- ↑ David Ehrlich: 'Darkest Hour' Review: Gary Oldman Makes Joe Wright's Biopic as Rousing and Ferocious as Winston Churchill Was Himself In: indiewire.com, September 2, 2017.
- ↑ Sidney Schering: The 10 best soundtracks of 2018. In: quotenmeter.de, December 28, 2018.
- ↑ http://filmmusicreporter.com/2017/10/28/deutsche-grammophon-to-release-darkest-hour-soundtrack/
- ↑ http://filmmusicreporter.com/2017/11/16/darkest-hour-soundtrack-details/
- ↑ a b Jack Giroux: Joe Wright's 'Darkest Hour' Gets Fall 2017 Release Date; Ben Mendelsohn, John Hurt & More Join Cast In: slashfilm.com, September 6, 2016.
- ↑ http://www.empireonline.com/people/gary-oldman/ben-mendelsohn-kristin-scott-thomas-join-darkest-hour/
- ↑ Rachel Babbage: John Hurt won't appear in Darkest Hour, what was thought to be his final film. In: digitalspy.com. May 16, 2017, accessed June 7, 2017 .
- ↑ The real Elizabeth Layton. Retrieved November 7, 2019 .
- ↑ Paul Sheehan and Zach Laws: 2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Production Design In: goldderby.com, August 1, 2017.
- ↑ Toronto International Film Festival 2017. Official Film Schedule In: tiff.net. Retrieved on August 23, 2017 (PDF; 852 KB)
- ↑ Brent Lang: Toronto Film Festival Lineup Includes Movies From Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Alexander Payne In: Variety, July 25, 2017.
- ↑ Dave McNary: Gary Oldman's Winston Churchill Film 'Darkest Hour' Gets Release Date, Rounds Out Cast In: Variety, September 6, 2016.
- ↑ Start dates Germany In: insidekino.com. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
- ↑ Darkest Hour In: parentpreviews.com. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
- ↑ Reasons for the release of The Darkest Hour In: Voluntary Self-Control of the Film Industry. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
- ↑ Darkest Hour In: Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 8, 2019. Note: The Tomatometer at Rotten Tomatoes shows what percentage of the registered critics gave the film a positive rating.
- ↑ Peter Debruge: Telluride Film Review: 'Darkest Hour' In: Variety, September 2, 2017.
- ↑ Thomas Palzer: Film review: 'The darkest hour' In: mdr.de, January 15, 2018.
- ↑ Sabienna Bowman: 11th 2018 Oscar Nomination Predictions Based On Early Favorites In: bustle.com, February 27, 2017.
- ↑ Hartmut Wilmes: Film review for 'The Darkest Hour' with Gary Oldman In: General-Anzeiger, January 18, 2018.
- ↑ The darkest hour. Jury reasons: Predicate particularly valuable In: German film and media evaluation . Retrieved January 25, 2018.
- ↑ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=darkesthour2017.htm
- ↑ Top 100 Germany 2018 In: insidekino.com. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
- ↑ Philipp Bühler: The darkest hour. In: kinofenster.de.
- ↑ Film overview. In: schulkinowochen.nrw.de. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
- ↑ Zack Sharf: Oscars 2018: Best Original Score Shortlist Includes 'The Shape of Water', 'All the Money in the World' and More In: indiewire.com, December 18, 2017.
- ↑ Carolyn Giardina: Oscars: A Look at the Work Behind the Hair and Makeup Contenders In: The Hollywood Reporter, December 22, 2017.
- ↑ Zach Laws: 2018 American Society of Cinematographers Awards winners: Roger Deakins ('Blade Runner 2049') wins 4th ASC prize on way to Oscars In: goldderby.com, February 17, 2018.
- ↑ Carolyn Giardina: Art Directors Guild Awards: 'Dunkirk', 'Shape of Water', 'Blade Runner 2049' Among Nominees In: The Hollywood Reporter, January 4, 2018.
- ↑ Kristopher Tapley, “Shape of Water” Leads Critics' Choice Film Nominations In: Variety, December 6, 2017.
- ^ David González: Cold War tops European Film Awards nominations. In: cineuropa.org, November 10, 2018.
- ↑ Winners & Nominees 2018 In: www.goldenglobes.com. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- ↑ 8th Hollywood Music in Media Awards Nominations Announced In: filmmusicreporter.com, October 25, 2017.
- ↑ Chris Evangelista: 2017 Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society Nominations Announced In: slashfilm.com, December 4, 2017.
- ↑ http://deadline.com/2017/11/palm-springs-gary-oldman-desert-palm-achievement-award-1202212230/
- ↑ 2017 Awards Winners ( Memento of the original from January 4, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: phoenixfilmcriticssociety.org. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
- ↑ Steve Pond: 'Dunkirk', 'The Shape of Water' Lead Satellite Award Nominations In: thewrap.com, November 29, 2017.
