Churchill (2017)

Review

105min

Genre:      Fact-based, Drama, War

Director:   Jonathan Teplitzky

Cast:        Brian Cox, Miranda Richardson, John Slattery…and more

Writer:     Alex von Tunzelmann

-Synopsis-

In the days leading up to D-Day and the Allied invasion of occupied France, British prime minister Winston Churchill clashes with the military brass in his opposition to the Normandy landings, as the ghosts of past campaigns haunt him while his position in the war effort comes under question—provoking some soul-searching as the ‘British Bulldog’ comes face-to-face with the reality of his duty in this portrait of the man behind the myth.

It’s never an easy to cinematically capture the essence of one of the most revered leaders and iconic figures of the 20th century, particularly if you mean to go beyond the iconography and that has almost become a caricature of the man, a task made all the more daunting given there hasn’t been definitive dramatic version of him—despite the countless depictions on the small and big and screen since the early days of cinema, albeit without a dedicated biopic to date. Now Aussie director Jonathan Teplitzky and veteran British actor Brian Cox stake their claim to the definitive film Churchill, in this frank and intimate character snapshot from one of the defining periods of his legacy.

The always dependable Cox stars as the titular leader himself, ground down by five years of war but still standing strong and wilful during a pivotal period in 1944 towards the end of the costly global conflict, caught in a personal quandary between his duty to the British people as prime minister and his tactical military opposition to ‘Operation Overlord’ and the D-Day landings—as he clashes with British army general Montgomery (Julian Wadham) and supreme allied commander Dwight Eisenhower (John Slattery), while the relationship with his strong and dutiful wife Clementine (Miranda Richardson) is strained.

Rather than a familiar cradle-to-grave biopic, ‘Churchill’ is a character profile focused on a very specific four-day period in Winston’s premiership and presumes the audience already has some familiarity with the man and his life story—but far from a fawning eulogy or a portrait of popular perception, this is a more candid drama which tries to dig underneath the ‘British Bulldog’ image of an infallible national hero. Teplitzky and writer Alex von Tunzelmann centre the drama and personal conflict around another massive amphibian beach landing in Gallipoli during World War I—a disaster which Churchill had a personal stake in and is weighed down by—shaping his staunch opposition to D-Day and the possibility of another military tragedy.

Brian Cox delivers a film-carrying performance with some nuance but plenty of grandstanding, capturing Churchill’s more recognisable physical and character traits but not concerning himself with perfecting his accent or cadence, while the always outstanding Miranda Richardson commands just as much of the screen as the formidable Clementine Churchill, steering her husband thought the choppy waters of his own ego—in what is essentially an elaborate cinematic chamber piece.

They’re backed by a myriad of solid supporting performances including American TV and film veteran John Slattery as Eisenhower and young Ella Purnell as Churchill’s private secretary and the film’s representative of the ‘ordinary Briton’—plus Julian Wadham’s particularly convincing turn as general Bernard ‘Monty’ Montgomery, taking plenty of dramatic license to play up his adversarial relationship with the prime minister in some of the film’s best scenes.

Despite boasting strong performances and the film looking & sounding the part—thanks to impressive production designs and another accomplished score from prolific Scottish composer Lorne Balfe—‘Churchill’ is not the among the most engrossing biographical dramas you’ll see this year, mainly thanks to a plodding narrative which drags on and feels longer than its relatively short runtime. This is also a fairly predictable and familiar film in terms of character arcs and dramatic contrivances, as well as theatricality, building up to a familiar speech-to-the-nation crescendo that’s more than a little reminiscent of ‘The King’s Speech’.

Perhaps the film’s biggest limitation is its willingness to take plenty of artistic and historical license—much to the annoyance of historians—centring the film’s entire narrative around framing a new perception of Churchill as a marginalised leader and a vehement opponent of Operation Overlord, to the point of willing to sabotage it, which despite the man’s real misgivings about the operation is essentially a dramatic fabrication.

Yet this certainly isn’t the greatest crime against historical accuracy ever committed by a filmmaker, and despite its shortcomings ‘Churchill’ has enough solid performances and a fascinating historical context to make it an entertaining biographical drama , if not a particularly informative or memorable one— but here’s hoping that director Joe Wright’s upcoming Churchill biog and Gary Oldman’s crack at the great man has something more to offer.

The Bottom Line . . .

A distinct if slightly heightened portrayal of a titanic but flawed figure in a country’s hour of great need; ‘Churchill’ doesn’t quite have the narrative finesse or inventiveness to make it either a completely engrossing biopic or the definitive cinematic account of this inimitable man—but thanks to a panache-filled central performance, solid supporting ones and the craftsmanship to capture the human elements behind a key moment in 20th century history, there’s more than enough here to stir and entertain over the course of just under two hours.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

The King’s Speech (2010)

Upon his unexpected ascension to the throne of the United Kingdom and head of the British Empire, King George VI struggles with a debilitating speech impediment, only to be coached by a self-styled Aussie therapist with unconventional techniques who helps him fulfill his duty to a country in need and on the brink of war.

Directed by Tom Hooper and starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter among others.

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