“Darkest Hour”– Movie Review

This week, I attended a New York Times Film Club screening for the New York City Premiere of the new historical drama, “Darkest Hour” starring Gary Oldman.

Synopsis

When Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of England, will he order his military to combat Hitler or will he choose to negotiate a peace treaty?

Story

In early May of 1940, Adolph Hitler is encroaching throughout Europe.  It looks like he will take Belgium – and if he does that, is France far behind?  The citizens of England are understandably worried; they are beginning to lose faith in their Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain.  Seeing the tide turning against him, Chamberlain steps aside and King George installs Winston Churchill (Oldman) as the nation’s new Prime Minister.  But it is not without some controversy; the King has reservations about Churchill.  Professionally, the man is something of a hawk and personally, he’s known to be a bit of a lush. 

Now in charge, Churchill soon finds he’s inherited no bed of roses.  Visiting France, he’s stunned to learn that they have no plan to confront Hitler’s troops.  Seeing he may have to support France in addition to defending his own country, the nascent Prime Minister is alarmed to find that his nation’s military will be no match against Germany’s and they will be spread particularly thin if they are forced to fight for two countries.  Desperate, he asks United States President Roosevelt for some assistance, but this proves fruitless.  Just weeks into his term, Churchill is hearing rumblings of dissent in his Parliament.

Against his best instincts, Churchill starts listening to some of his advisors who strongly recommend they take up Italy’s Mussolini on his offer to serve as a broker between England and Germany to negotiate a peace treaty with Hitler.  As loathe as Churchill may be to this notion, the reality is that if his soldiers try to fight Germany, they will suffer massive casualties and the nation will wind up losing faith in its new leader.  Once word comes that Belgium has fallen, Churchill must make a decision:  either concede or talk the Parliament into putting up a fight against the German forces.  Is this something that Churchill is worth risking at this point in his political career? 

Review

It is rare to have multiple biopics about the same historical figure in one year.  This past Spring, “Churchill” was reviewed; over the summer, “Dunkirk” was released (not directly about The British Bulldog himself, but close enough); now, we have, “Darkest Hour” – which wags will likely refer to as “Darkest Two Hours”.  But make no mistake:  both the Prime Minister and that point in the history of the world are quite rich with material for many motion pictures, books and even television mini-series.  Churchill himself was legendary for many reasons, including being quite a character (for better or worse).   

The problem for some who try dramatic adaptions to their chosen medium  is this:  in real time, the events were thrilling moments but condensing them to movies while keeping the dramatic tension can prove a challenge when the outcome is already known.  This is the main problem with “Darkest Hour” – while there’s a war raging on in Europe, the conflict has to do with the internecine battles within the British Parliament as well as Churchill’s own personal doubts.  Conveying that on-screen is difficult to say the least and the way the story arrives at its resolution is hard to swallow; the final scene where Churchill speaks before Parliament tries to be exhilarating but winds up more underwhelming.    

Regarding the performances, Oldman is being touted as a possible award nominee for his portrayal of Churchill.  Much of the time, however, it appears as though he is letting the extensive make-up do a substantial amount of the work.  His gravelly utterances at various points can be hard to comprehend, especially when he is mumbling – particularly odd since the character was known as a great orator.  Kristin Scott Thomas, on the other hand, goes sorely under-utilized as the Prime Minister’s wife; although she portrays Mrs. Churchill as a doting and dignified supportive influence, her role is distressingly minor.  However, the classic, fragile beauty of this actress never goes unnoticed.       

“Murder On The Orient Express”– Movie Review

This week, I attended a New York Times Film Club screening of the new mystery, “Murder On The Orient Express”, starring and directed by Kenneth Branagh.

Synopsis

When a passenger is killed during a long train ride, can a legendary detective determine which one of the others committed the crime?

Story

In 1934, famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Branagh) boards the Orient Express in Istanbul to embark on a vacation – or so he thought.  The train is packed with a motley collection of fellow travelers – all of whom are quite idiosyncratic in their own right.  Along the way through the wintry mountains, the train gets stalled when it is derailed by a substantial snowdrift.  Once the train misses its schedule at the next station, an excavation crew is sent out to locate the train and dig it out so that it can proceed along its route.  Stuck in the snow, some of the passengers get acquainted with each other – in particular, Poirot meets a man named Ratchett (Johnny Depp), who turns out to be something of a scoundrel.   

While onboard this luxury transportation, one of the passengers is murdered – and to the surprise of few, it turns out the victim is Ratchett.  At this point, everyone looks to Poirot to find the culprit.  Poirot then begins his investigation in his own inimitable way, looking for clues in places where no one would think to find them.  His powers of deduction cause him to interview each of the passengers, asking some very pointed questions, infuriating and insulting some of them.  Furthermore, Poirot’s observational skills allow him to see things about each passenger which arouses his suspicions.     

With the excavation crew making inroads in their ability to free up the train, the Orient Express will soon be on its way.  Time is of the essence and if the train arrives at its next stop before a malefactor can be uncovered, they will likely get away with the crime.  Poirot is now under pressure to narrow down the suspects.  But who can it be?  Each one of the dozen passengers has shown themselves to be deceptive in their own way and a number of them even seem to have their own motive to want to take out Ratchett.  Can Poirot figure out who done it before it’s too late or will this prove to be the first time the great expert is outsmarted?

Review

It would be understandable to roll your eyes at the thought of yet another remake of this Agatha Christie classic novel.  But the filmmakers do seem to get it right this time around (unless of course you’re faithful to the Sidney Lumet version from 1974, which would be quite understandable as many consider it The Gold Standard).  The entire production design – including and especially the CGI that shows the locomotive wending its way through the snow-capped mountains – is quite something to behold.  But what really pulls the whole thing together is Branagh – both with his directing and his acting.  

The screenplay by Michael Green also deserves some notice as well.  He has allowed Poirot to have humor – including that of the self-deprecating variety which illustrates the detective’s immense ego (not to mention his larger-than-life mustache).  Also, the characters are reasonably well delineated, but not with so much detail that the audience can’t see the forest for the trees; in the two hours of the movie, you get just enough backstory about them that you have a good enough idea who each one is without clogging the forward progression of the main story.

As a director, Branagh finds some interesting shots on the train, shooting a conversation with one passenger through a window that almost acts like a cross between a prism and a fun house mirror.  Seeing him as Poirot march confidently across the snow-covered roof of a train car without concern for his footing is humorous in itself.  But as an actor, it’s the intensity he gives Poirot that truly hits the spot here; we almost see Poirot as vulnerable and fallible as he tries to come to the conclusion of just exactly who did away with Ratchett.