Gary
Oldman plays Winston Churchill so well that I forgot about the actor
and thought I was watching Churchill himself resurrected from the dead.
This film is that good.
I
have not finished it yet but the 3/4 I did see concentrated on the
miserable circumstances of the battle of Dunkirk in 1940 and Churchill's
heart wrenching decision whether to seek a diplomatic solution with a
psychologically sick unreliable (to say the least) Hitler or press on
refusing to surrender. The losses of the Brits and French at Dunkirk
were many and the German military the most superior on earth in1940.
Brits were stuck in this French town and surrounded by superior German
forces in land, sea and air honed through their many victories in
Europe. One by one western Europe was falling as Belgium fell, eastern
Europe was in Nazi hands and Nazi victory seemed inevitable. Nothing
less than Western civilization was at stake. Churchill desperately
needed American strength but Roosevelt while empathetic to their plight
in 1940 could do nothing as there was no Congressional support nor
popular appetite to get stuck in another war in Europe.
From
the history I have read the evacuation by boat of the 198,000 British
and 140,000 French and Belgian troops was miraculous. They were saved
from an untenable situation and total decimation of their army at
Dunkirk. They were miraculously helped by the Halt Order of Hitler the
rationale of that Order still debated today. It was a spiritual victory
for the Allies and set the table for Allied victory with American much
needed help finally culminating in the 1944 D-Day Allied invasion by
sea of Europe.
The
film shows perfectly the resolve by Churchill to never surrender, his strong and quirky
personality with a monumental task laid in his hands and no prediction
of victory. He was a force of nature and an example of what great leadership truly is.
If one is interested in WWII history shaping our own history to present day this film is highly recommended.
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