Darkest Hour

First Hit:  Maybe the brightest and best two hours in the theater this year.

If my memory serves me correctly, my middle school history teachers painted Winston Churchill as a roundish, heavyset, and controversial bull-doggish sort of man who saved England from Nazi Germany. But what did that really mean? How did he do this? This film sorts out the enigmatic view I had of him.

What this movie does is shine a light on a controversial 3-week period in England’s history about whether to negotiate a peace agreement with Nazi Germany or to fight them to the end.

When the film begins Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup) is losing the support of Parliament’s conservative party and Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax (Stephen Dillane) doesn’t want to be elevated to Prime Minister while he’s pushing for a negotiated peace. Parliament is in an uproar and King George VI (Ben Mendelsohn) is deeply concerned about his country.

Chamberlain floats and gets traction for the idea to hand over conservative power to Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman). Being a controversial person, not well liked by anyone, the conservatives figure if Churchill fails then Halifax and his solution will step up to save England from what is happening in Europe, wide-spread destruction and surrender.

Churchill’s reputation as being difficult and having backed failed campaigns in Africa and Gallipoli proceeds his ascension to Prime Minister. But as he would state  in his defense, these campaigns weren’t all his doing. He also had backed England returning the Pound to a pre-WWI gold standard parity, which had caused its fair share of problems.

When summoned to accept the position of Prime Minister from King George, the clock starts and the film effectively marks the passage of the days and decisions by displaying the day and month prominently every so often.

What makes the situation so incredibly difficult is that most of England’s active army has been corralled onto the beach at Dunkirk with the German army closing in. England’s ships have been all but destroyed by the Germans, their airplanes have been mostly shot down by the superior German Luftwaffe and last but not least, the United States has vowed to stay out of the war to this point and cannot assist England. This last item is poignantly shared in a desperate phone call Churchill places to President Roosevelt.

To save as many of their troops as possible, Churchill sends out a command asking all private boat owners having boats from 30 – 100’ long, to set sail to Dunkirk to save the British troops. (Note: See one of the other best films to be released earlier this year Dunkirk to witness this amazing event.)

In a moment of desperation Churchill asks Halifax to begin exploring a negotiated peace with Nazi Germany. But as Winston was known to do, he deviated from the script and reached out to the people of England to ask what they wanted him to do. As we all know, he chose the path of “We will never, never, never surrender.”

The way this film is shot, we believe we’re in the early 1940’s. The darkness of the time is expressed though spending a lot of time in small underground rooms and darkened hallways moving with him as he finds a way through his own dark depressive drinking way of creating his answers through the inspirational speeches and talks he gives. The final speech he gives to Parliament is frightfully stirring. I also loved how he made England sound big and small by referring to it as an island instead of a country.

That Churchill drank all the time, smoked cigars, and was depression prone was duly present, but the strength, power, and encouragement he brought to his country shines through from beginning to end.

Oldman quite simply is the best actor in a lead role this year. His embodiment of Churchill is full, complete, and by every measure extraordinary. Lilly James as Elizabeth Layton, Churchill’s assistant, typist, and confidant was sublime. Her enthusiasm, struggle and devotion was the heart this film sits upon. Mendelsohn was perfect as the stuff-ish King George VI who learned to embrace and trust Churchill. When he shared with Winston that his family, the royals, wanted to know if they needed to exile to Canada, the bond was made. Kristen Scott Thomas (as Churchill's’ wife Clementine) was wonderful. She provided support when needed and was a perfect sounding board for Winston. Dillane was strong as Viscount Halifax, who didn’t think England stood a chance and believed that a negotiated peace was the best way to save the people, culture and country. Anthony McCarten wrote an amazingly rich script. The dialogue perfectly reflected the times. Joe Wright’s direction was sublime. The story was told with genuine care and creates power of the decisions made at the time. What made it even better was I wanted the film to go on and tell me more of the story.

Overall:  This is truly a contender for best film of the year.

Bel Ami

First Hit:  The idea of the film is good but with Pattinson as the lead it goes nowhere.

This story is supposed to be about a man’s rise to power through his guile and the women he beds. Or is it?

The film begins with watching Georges Duroy (played by Robert Pattinson) taking his last few bits of money off a table going to a bar to spend it on beer while he watches his favorite whore goes off with someone with money.

He runs into his old north African army buddy Charles Forestier (played by Philip Glenister) who buys him some champagne and invites him over for a party while loaning him money for clothes. At the party he meets Charles’ wife Madeleine (played by Uma Thurman) to whom he is immediately attracted. He also meets Clotilde (played by Christina Ricci) a young beautiful woman with a child.

The setup is that he thinks he is a ladies man or player (as they would say today). The problem is that there isn’t anything about his character that is attractive or interesting. Charles gets him a job at Rousset Walters’ (played by Colm Meaney) newspaper.

Here he does nothing, adds no value, and uses stories developed and written by Madeleine. He is a caricature of someone who brings value to the table. He meets Rousseau’s wife Virginie (played by Kristen Scott Thomas) and the script has her attracted to him.

I don’t see how Clotilde, Madeleine or Virginie found Georges attractive except that is what the script said for them to be. He brings nothing to his character except some facial good looks (somewhat pained) but his body is mediocre and his eyes are absolutely vacant.

Pattinson is not much of an actor and his vacant eyes might be great for the role of a vampire but if he’s going to do anything else, he’s got to learn to bring something from his soul out through his eyes and to the audience. Glenister is good as the former army mate and someone who wanted to give Georges a chance. Thurman elevates herself from the rest and takes charge of her role. Ricci was great as the woman who cares regardless of how she is treated. Meaney is good as the tough newspaper editor who is also looking out only for himself. Scott Thomas is interesting as a woman who is rather cold and distant to needy and wanting. Rachel Bennette wrote an interesting screenplay. Directors Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod had a good script and some great actors except for Pattinson in the lead role.

Overall:  The film had possibilities but with Pattinson in the lead it was dead on arrival.

Sarah's Key (Elle s'appelait Sarah)

First Hit: Powerful film that shines light on the French roundup of Jews in 1942.

I was unaware that the French government rounded up Jews and sent them to concentration camps, like Nazi Germany, prior to the invasion of France by Germany.

This is a sad and powerful story of a young girl who locks her very young brother in a closet to save him from being taken away by the soldiers. The family gets taken away and separated, Men from Women and young children from their mothers.

This leaves Sarah with a group of other young girls in the camp. She escapes with the assistance of a soldier and after being nursed to health by a French family, they make their way back to Paris to unlock the closet Sarah locked her brother in. It has been many months and of course the boy is dead. Sarah is affected by the rest of her life over the killing of her brother.

The vehicle for following this story is the research by Julia Jarmond (played by Kristen Scott Thomas) who discovers that her husband’s family owned the home where Sarah lived and locked her brother up. In fact, her and her husband are redecorating the place to move in as their new home.

As the story unfolds Julia becomes distraught at the coincidence of her being pregnant, her husband not wanting the child, and the history of her home. This sad story was extremely well told. Not once did I slip into non-belief.

I was extremely impressed with the choice of actors, especially Melusine Mayance and Charlotte Poutrel as young and adult Sarah respectively. Their shared mannerisms, look, and feel (both physically and energetically) were phenomenal.

Scott Thomas gives a tone and picture perfect performance as the intensely curious reporter that drives depth into her story through empathy. Mayance was fantastic as young Sarah and her scream when she opens the closet will haunt me for weeks. Poutrel was sublime as adult Sarah and had me wanting to reach out and comfort her. All the other actors were great in their roles. Serge Joncour and Gilles Paquet-Brenner wrote a superlative screenplay. And Paquet-Brenner’s direction was top-notch.

Overall: A deeply moving film which hangs on in one’s soul for some time afterward.

Leaving (Patir)

First Hit: A great performance by Kristin Scott Thomas in a good story.

The last film I saw with Kristin Scott Thomas was “I’ve Loved You So Long” which was an extraordinary performance of a woman slowly learning how to live life again after she killed her son out of mercy.

Here she plays Suzanne a stay at home mom of two young teenage kids and wife of a successful doctor. She makes the meals, takes the kids to their activities and has everything she needs. In her quest to get back into her career of being a physical therapist, her husband contracts to have their carriage house redecorated so that she can have a place to practice.

To clean the area out, her husband Samuel (played by Yvan Attal) hires Ivan (played by Sergi Lopez) a former prisoner who longs to find some money and stability in his life so that he can spend time with his young daughter.

Suzanne begins to help Ivan clean out the space and one day in her haste to give him his paycheck, he becomes injured by her car. Hurt and unable to meet up with his daughter, Suzanne makes up for her mistake and drives him to the town where his daughter is living. One night they have dinner and they begin to tell their personal stories to each other.

In the film, this is where they gain an attraction towards each other. However, I didn’t see the chemistry between them which had me hesitating a bit about the story. Yet, as actors they played their part exquisitely and made the relationship very believable.

The affair they start quickly becomes obsessive and they think of nothing else than to be with each other.  Samuel “forbids” Suzanne from seeing Ivan again but the obsession is complete and there is nothing they won’t do to be together.

Scott Thomas was amazing. She is beautiful, but beauty only goes so far and it is her ability to feel and portray her intense desire to rid herself of a life which was affectionately unfulfilling was amazing. There are numerous close ups that give you a peak into an amazing performance. Lopez, was very good as the the humble man who connected with Suzanne. The far better looking Attal was appropriately arrogant as Suzanne’s possessive and unrelenting husband. Catherine Corsini and Gaelle Mace wrote this screen play and Corsini directed this with a sharp woman’s eye and point of view.

Overall: A good film with some great performances.

I've Loved You So Long (Il y a longtemps que je t'aime)

First Hit: What an amazing and mesmerizing performance by Kristen Scott Thomas.

I’ve had a lengthy and long distance love affair with Kristen and in this film; I was reawakened to it, yet again. Kristen plays Juliette Fontaine a woman steeped in sorrow and void of expressions.

The story begins as she sits in a train station waiting for someone to pick her up. Her sister Lea arrives and there are minimal pleasantries shared. Lea, played by Elsa Zylberstein, is much younger than Juliette and her adoration for her older sister is prevalent from the beginning. We learn that Juliette has just got out of prison where she spent 15 years for murder.

Slowly, very slowly during the film we learn whom she has killed and from where the depth of her sorrow emanates. In the true fashion of a French film the story and characters are given room to develop over time and the fullness of how all the characters develop only adds to the depth and beauty of this film.

Philippe Claudel both wrote and directed this film. Although, he has written a few prior films this was his first attempt at directing a full feature film and it is very well done. Scenes are given breadth and handled in a way that allows the characters to grow into full and believable roles. His handling of Lea’s oldest daughter is wonderful because we fully see the wonder of a child being introduced to her Auntie for the first time. Kristen’s acting in this film is beyond words and is the best performance by a woman I’ve seen all year by leaps and bounds. Elsa is superb as her much younger sister aching to be supportive of her sister and wanting to recreate the closeness they lost when Juliette went to prison. Elsa showing Juliette her daily calendar with Juliette’s name on the top of every page was a wonderful little scene of love.

Overall: I was deeply touched by this film and thought the slow unfolding of Juliette as portrayed by Kristen was extraordinary.