I just got back from seeing the film, Darkest Hour, about a crucial few days in 1940 when Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of Great Britain and inspired a nation to “never give up.”
Yes, Gary Oldman disappears into his role as Churchill. Yes, there are stirring speeches and tense confrontations. But it was the scene pictured above that made my tears flow like the Mississippi. (Or rather, the Thames.)
Hitler’s army has conquered most of Western Europe and is on the brink of sealing France’s fate. 300,000 British soldiers are backed up against the sea at Dunkirk. Churchill is about to cave in to the demands of his own political party and ask for terms of surrender from Germany.
It is in that darkest of hours that Churchill ditches his governmental escort and catches a ride on the Underground - London’s subway. There, he talks with normal, working-class citizens instead of the Lords of Parliament and scheming politicians. The mothers, bricklayers, and students inspire him to fight the Nazis to the bitter end. They all said that a swastika must never fly over Buckingham Palace. “We’ll fight with broom handles if we have to.”
Churchill’s legend (in my mind, at least) has always painted him as a mighty, unstoppable force. To see him in this film as a human being full of doubts, in need of encouragement and support, (but who projected that strength and resolve for the good of his country) was moving beyond what my words can express.
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P.S.
When I originally posted this on Facebook, I was informed that the scene I've referred to is probably historically inaccurate...that the chances of it having actually happened are next to nil. Well, who cares? It still pierced me to the heart. As Tony Campolo used to say, "If it didn't happen exactly that way, it should have."
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