Review: Gary Oldman’s intimate portrait of an icon in Darkest Hour

REVIEW: History proved Winston Churchill right. And Churchill may just prove Gary Oldman’s Oscar moment, as the veteran steals every frame of Darkest Hour.

WINSTON Churchill is a hard man to pin down — as a glut of recent screen appearances attest.

John Lithgow played the two-time British Prime Minister as a kind of loveable grotesque in his Emmy Award-winning star turn in Netflix drama The Crown.

BEN MENDELSOHN BREAKS OUT OF BAD, INTO ROYALTY WITH DARKEST HOUR

Brian Cox lent the imposing historical figure a theatrical gravitas in last year’s drama Churchill, set in the time leading up to D-Day.

Recent interpretations of Winston Churchill include Brian Cox in film Churchill ... Picture: Transmission

... and American John Lithgow in lavish and acclaimed Netflix series The Crown. Picture: Netflix

Michael Gambon’s raggedly incandescent interpretation, in Churchill’s Secret, saw the stroke-affected politician rage against the dying of the light.

In Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour, Gary Oldman — unrecognisable behind a face full of jowly prosthetics that utterly transform him — offers a more vulnerable, somehow human-scale interpretation of the great leader.

While each of the aforementioned Churchills is extraordinarily powerful in their own way, Oldman’s up-close-and-personal version is the one that sticks, as is recognised in his recent Golden Globe nomination and surely an upcoming Oscar nod.

Gary Oldman is unrecognisable as PM Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. The role has already scored the actor SAG and Golden Globe nominations. Picture: Universal Pictures

Churchill’s now-familiar peccadillos — dictating from the bathtub, drinking at breakfast, holding court in his dressing gown — are part of the narrative fabric of Darkest Hour.

Where Cox’s self doubt played out in a dramatic register entirely appropriate to ‘Great Men’, Oldman’s interpretation brings it much closer to ordinary, everyday equivocation — something Churchill was accused of by his critics.

The wily politician’s shifting allegiances (he quit the Conservative Party for Labour in 1904, rejoining 20 years later) eventually landed him the top job because he was the only candidate the opposition would approve, thus allowing the formation of a coalition.

In the uncertain days of WWII, Clementine Churchill (Kristin Scott Thomas) is the PM’s steadiest ally. Picture: Universal Pictures

Doubters, however, were understandably sceptical about his political “flexibility.”

Darkest Hour is set during the crucial first days of Churchill’s first term as Prime Minister. France and Belgium are on the brink of surrendering to Hitler. British politicians have lost their nerve, partly due to the mistakes of WWI.

Churchill is portrayed as pretty much a lone voice in his determination to refuse an armistice with Germany. Only King George VI (a refined Ben Mendelsohn) backs him.

The British leader turns to the people to test their mettle — in this film, that plays out as a dramatic tube ride to the House of Commons which stiffens his resolve.

Churchill (Oldman) rallies support in a scene from Darkest Hour. Picture: Universal Pictures

The great orator’s famous speech feels unnervingly hawkish in the current political environment, with Trump in the White House and Kim Jong-un firing off ballistic missiles whenever it pleases him.

But it had its intended effect at the time: convincing parliament to stay the course. And of course, history proved Churchill right.

An accessible, intelligent and timely companion piece to Christopher Nolan’s immersive Dunkirk.

OPENS THURSDAY

Oldman and Ben Mendelsohn out of character — both the Brit and the Australian are transformed in Darkest Hour. Picture: Universal Pictures

DARKEST HOUR (PG)

*** 1/2

Director: Joe Wright

Starring: Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James

Verdict: Oldman steals the film