Darkest Hour comments... [View all]

So, for those of you who are WWII afficiandos, you might be a little frustrated. At least I was. Yes, the movie takes the usual Hollywood liberties, often due to compressed time which is common, and this is no different. Gary Oldham, for those who have read enough history, IMHO, captured the very quirkiness of WC. There have been many comments made about his racism, etc., not undeserved at all. WC was who he was, generationally, social status, the whole British Empire enchilada.

So, Darkest Hour. I very much enjoyed it, but I wish filmmakers, when they make these movies, would do a better job at the end of the credits when they show the “postscript.” Yes, the US entering WWII was the only salvation with money and manpower. BUT. Americans need to be reminded that Great Britain was left to their own devices for years. They were at war in 1939. FDR had to circumvent the isolationist laws to try to even help until Pearl Harbor, which wasn’t until 1941, and even then, we had the Pacific Theatre and North Africa to start. No troops in Europe. My dad started off in Tunisia in 1942 until invasion of Europe in 1944.

So all this is to say that fine, make the Darkest Hour, but make it a more forceful reminder and a learning moment that these were frightening days for the Brits. We weren’t there to save the day for quite a long time and they deserve the praise of the fortitude they showed in those early years of the war when there was a very real possibility that GB wouldn’t survive Nazi Germany, whether militarily or by political decisions.

Rant off.