In the interest of getting “hard” copies of my work under one roof, I plan to spend the next few weeks posting the entire archive of my film journalism here on ScullyVision. With due respect to the many publications I’ve written for, the internet remains quite temporary, and I’d hate to see any of my work disappear for digital reasons. As such, this gargantuan project must begin! I don’t want to do it. I hate doing it. But it needs to be done. Please note that my opinions, like everyone’s, have changed a LOT since I started, so many of these reviews will only represent a snapshot in time. Objectivity has absolutely no place in film criticism, at least not how I do it.
I guess it’s about time somebody gave Winston Churchill the big-screen treatment, and I commend those behind Churchill for focusing on just a single week in the life of the man considered the “greatest Briton of all time.” But as noble as the intentions of this minor biopic may be, it struggles to overcome a strange goofiness that all too frequently peaks out from behind the drama. It’s the type of thing that can sink a movie, but would make a stage-production shine. Churchill, despite being the former, plays to the back row from moment one, and much of the film is lost in its own roaring echo.
The focal point of Churchill is the week or so leading up to D-Day. We all know this as the particularly bloody attack which launched Operation Overlord, a concerted effort by the Allied Forces to liberate France from Nazi occupation. In hindsight, D-Day was a success, but it was one which came with great cost. A lot of young men perished that day, and unfortunately, it was all part of the plan.
In the eyes of Winston Churchill (Brian Cox, loud), to invade the beaches of Normandy would be to recreate the Gallipoli Campaign of WWI, a similar attack for which he was chief architect and champion. This invasion attempt was a massive failure, and its ghosts haunt Churchill’s every waking moment. As such, he sees it as his duty to be the mouthpiece for the unavoidable loss of life which D-Day was sure to incur, further criticizing the plan for being absent of personal stakes. Why should the people making the decisions remain safe in their cushy offices while thousands of young men walk directly into death?
Because that’s their job, argues General Eisenhower (John Slattery, almost as loud), and while the Normandy attack is similar to Gallipoli, he indicates that new technologies have tipped the scales in favor of such a plan. It’s a risk, for sure, but passing up an opportunity to cripple German forces could be an even greater long term loss.
So what does Churchill do? He drinks, he treats everybody around him like absolute crap (the women get it the worst), he steadfastly refuses to listen to anyone but himself. He does this by screaming pretty much all the time. While Churchill’s real life issues with depression, alcoholism, and deeply contradictory morals are well-documented, in the lens of the film he ends up coming across as a drunken old dinosaur facing a fast approaching irrelevance. If this were titled Planning D-Day it would make sense to depict the man in such a light. But the film is called Churchill, and even though I don’t want a rose-colored glasses approach, showing a period where our protagonist is not just at his most unbearable, but is ultimately wrong in his goals, makes this stuffy history lesson somewhat difficult to enjoy.
He is, however, given a small arc, mostly through the underwritten women in his life standing up to him, slapping him, or showing a level of class unfamiliar to Winston when deep in his cups. These “eureka” moments are sometimes laughable, always unbelievable, and would work sooooo much better on stage, where large emotional flourishes fill the room rather than bounce off the screen.
Miranda Richardson works magic as Clementine Churchill, one of few characters who isn’t always yelling. Sadly, her performance is often lost to amateurish production. Seriously, whoever lit this movie makes even the more subdued moments look downright goofy. A single conversation is often lit a different way at each angle, making for a gaudy jumble of visual inconsistencies. From one angle a character is draped in shadow, from another they are glowing. One can almost see the beam of the lighting rig, and it makes this true story feel like make believe. Good lighting should be unnoticed by the casual viewer. This is noticeable.
That said, everyone is really giving their all, and it’s clear that the gravity of making such a picture is not lost on those involved. While the performances are dialed up to 11 in a film that only calls for 10, none are outright bad. Most are very good. They’re just weird. Case in point: when it becomes clear that the only thing which could stop D-Day from going forward is poor weather, Churchill spends a few minutes scream-praying for God to send down all the destructive forces of nature. Essentially he’s howling a well-written speech to nobody. It shouldn’t be funny, but it really is. This, in a movie that does have some actual comedy in it. In fact, the moments of purposeful levity are quite keen, but the moments of accidental humor are in much greater number.
During the BIG. FINAL. SPEECH. Churchill appears to break the fourth wall entirely. This is not the intention of the filmmakers, to be sure, but it really looks as if he sips his water, looks directly into my eyes and says, “Oh, how I wish this was scotch.”
Hey, since we’re personally acquainted now, maybe pour me one, Mr. Prime Minister.
At the end of the day, I did come out of this with a better understanding of a small window in history, and for that I must commend Churchill (also for making a WWII movie without any actual war in it). Unfortunately, I came out of it with less of an understanding of Winston Churchill himself. I always knew he was a good speaker, a heavy drinker, and a beloved (albeit difficult) Prime Minister. I still know that, but now I have to add ‘A-hole’ to his list of descriptors.
So who do I think the “greatest Briton of all time” is? Sir Elton John. Duh.
Churchill opens in Philly theaters today.
