Customer Reviews

Gathering Storm

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Albert Finney does a remarkable thing starring in this film as Winston Churchill. With no more than the proper wardrobe and a Romeo and Juliet cigar, he transforms himself into everyone's vision of the legendary stateman. He well deserved the Emmy for best performance, and may well have won the Oscar had this been a theatrical release. The entire cast is top-notch: I especially liked seeing Sir Derek Jacobi as Baldwin, and Vanessa Redgrave is a pleasure as usual. In addition, the cinematography is fantastic - the production values rival any Hollywood theatrical release. HBO is rightfully becoming the leader in drama.

The plot loosely follows the details of Churchill's political life (and that of Britain's) in the '30's. I especially liked the portrayal early in the film of Churchill defending the crackdown on Gandhi and against Indian independence. At that time, Churchill was a solution in search of a problem, and he basically lashed out at anything that altered the status quo or affected the Empire. But when Hitler came to power, and Germany started re-arming, Churchill came to life. He was the most vocal of Britain's appeasement critics and started arming himself for the battle he knew was coming. This was Churchill at his best - a lone voice crying in the wilderness, but with a message that wouldn't go away and one that more and more people started listening to. The film ends with the declaration of war in September '39 and Churchill's appointment to cabinet (as First Lord of the Admiralty).

However, the plot is incidental. This film is mostly a portrait of Churchill the man. We see him ranting in the House of Commons, lambasting his staff, tyranising his family, and coercing staff at the foreign office into giving him access to restricted material. This is the Churchill everyone knows, and it's nothing new. What this film adds is Churchill barking (literally - like a dog) at him wife, playing with his youngest daughter, and absentmindedly forgetting to wear clothes in the presence of his secretaries. All of these character traits are well documented in his biographies, but are rarely seen on screen, and it's this fine performance of all aspects of Churchill that makes the film so worthwhile.

The film is prone to sentimentality. It is prone to gloss over some events (like Chamberlain becoming PM). However, I was pleasantly surprised by the details it does include - the average North American TV viewer may not follow every reference in the film, but it never drags down in such details and they never detract from the main purpose of the piece - it's portrayal of Churchill, the man.

I am not really a biography buff, but I started watching this movie and couldn't stop. I even cried a couple of times. The cast, settings, and scenery are wonderful. Albert Finney looks and acts and sounds amazingly like Winston Churchill. I do wish it had gone on for several more hours, since it stops right at a crucial point.

The "Gathering Storm" takes its title from the first book of Churchill's enormous and amazing history of the Second World War. It reports on the nationalism of Germany, the diabolical building of 1000s upon 1000s of tanks and planes under the scrutiny of the allies, the plans for the German purification of their race, and literally the war-like expansion to western and eastern Europe. At the time, 1932-34, half a dozen years before the start of the war, very few were speaking out against Germany. One of them was Churchill.

Certainly an interesting man and owner of extraordinary intelligence, you would want to put him next to Mother Teresa, Dr. King, and only a few others who shaped history and put us where we are today. If there were a dozen people who changed the world from 1900 to 2000, he would be one of them.

His words about freedom - 'we will fight them on the beaches, in the streets, we will never give up' and gratitude to the brave Spitfire pilots who stopped Hitler's expansion at the English Channel - 'never has so much been owed by so many to so few,' still haunt us today.

Yet he was a tyrant who ruled his home and family with as much self absorption and self centeredness as he did his political life.

This film shows all of it and could well be followed by the subsequent chapters in the dozen years that changed our lives. Albert Finney is great, Vanessa Redgrave equal to the task, and the others, Wilkenson, Jacobi, Broadbent, Roache et al. also brilliant.

Should not be missed. Larry Scantlebury

This is one of my all time favorite films of the historical genre. It recreatst the london of the 30s and the man Churchill very well. This film is based on the book 'Alone' which details Churchills life from 1930-1940. This was the time when CHurchill was expected to retire and the English felt he was a has been.

This film revolves around the hard times Churchill faces when he loses his fortune in 1929 and is embrarrased daily in the Commons. Yet he hits on the issue German rearmarment and will not leave it. He sees before all of Englands appeasers the evil that is growing in Nazi Germany.

This won derful film will make you cry when you see Churchill staring from his balcony window declaring of his land "I love it, I would die for it" and later in the film looking into the darkness declares "How short a distance in invading army would march from the coast to London, its only a matter of time". But we learn of the inner Churchill who beleived in 'Destiny' and never gave in to the Nazi threat.

Probably the one man on the continent who saw the Nazis for what they would become Churchill is my all time hero. When all had been defeated, France lay in ruins, the british army defeated at Dunkirk, the Russians and Germans still allies, the Americans isolated he stood alone and declared that the Nazis would not pass. This film does him credit, I highly recommend it.

The Gathering Storm, thankfully brushed lightly upon those over-documented events leading to England's declaration of war in 1939. Where the movie shines brightest is in it's bare honest portrayal of The Right Hon. Winston Churchill - as an egomaniacal, obstinate, fanatical 'god and empire' patriot with the effette pretentions of a petti-artiste. Who was a chronic looser in every aspect of his personal and professional life, who conspired to bully a tragically vulnerable civil servant to betray his office and who divulged stolen intelligence from his own government to give a hopelessly pacifist England a harsh wake-up. Finney and Redgrave are glorious, simply wonderful. The cameo of Ronnie Barker as 'Mr Inches', Churchill's butler, came closest to upstaging Albert Finney as I have ever seen. No film is worth five stars, no movie comes close to perfection, so here we have four.

This film, featuring a bravo performance by Albert Finney as Winston Churchill, absolutely captures the essence of the man in all his complexity--his giant ego, his love of country, and his unwavering determination to alert Britain to the rising danger of Nazi Germany. The film does not whitewash Churchill's imperfections, including his sometime inability to work with colleagues, and the fact that living with Churchill was not always a bed of roses for his family. Albert Finney absolutely absorbs the role of Churchill and "becomes" the man. This is a fine film deriving from this superb performance by Finney.

Why only 4 stars? Because the movie skips the period in which I was most interested--most of the year just prior to Hitler's invasion of Poland and the machinations and appeasement by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Perhaps it was felt that British viewers are so familiar with this period that there was no point in including it. However, American viewers and I dare say those from most other countries would have benefited from and enjoyed seeing Churchill triumph over the utter failure of Chamberlain's policy of appeasement as Churchill assumed power in what had to be Britain's darkest days ever. This was perhaps the most dramatic political event ever, and for this film to omit it in what purported to be a film about "The Gathering Storm" was in my opinion unforgivable, and this is why I deprive the film of that fifth star.

Despite this flaw, anyone interested in the life of one of the Twentieth Century's greatest leaders will want to see this superb film.

When I first heard that Albert Finney would play Sir Winston Churchill in "The Gathering Storm" I was disappointed and wondered how he could pull it off. Still I watched the movie and the first appearance of Mr. Finney on screen as the venerable and legendary British hero put all of my fears to rest. Winston was alive again. The same can be said for the performance of Vanessa Redgrave as Clementine Churchill.

The movie is filled with facts about Churchill's activities leading up to war with Germany, his intelligence activities and his relationship with his wife and family. The film is a must have for all Churchillophiles.

It's part of the Churchill legend that, after having served in high government posts in the first third of the 20th century, Winston was a has-been by the mid-1930s, ridiculed and avoided by fellow members of Parliament - caught in the political doldrums. THE GATHERING STORM depicts the period from 1934 to 1939. It's no exaggeration to say that Churchill owes the resurgence of his political career to Adolph Hitler and the Third Reich.

Albert Finney was an inspired choice in the title roll. We watch as Winston, despondent over his fall from influence, becomes the lone voice in the wilderness speaking out against the government's policy of appeasement of Nazi Germany. This is all the more remarkable because it was Churchill's own party, the Conservatives, which held power under Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin (Derek Jacobi), who, as pointedly put by Winston, was but an "epileptic corpse". However, this film does not slavishly idolize. We see Churchill for what he also was: inept at money handling, domineering, occasionally incredibly selfish, and perhaps too envious of the military accomplishments of his ancestor, the 1st Duke of Marlborough. And, as comic relief, the viewer is led to believe that Winston composed and rehearsed his greatest speeches in the loo, especially while in the bathtub.

THE GATHERING STORM is also a tribute to Clementine Churchill (Vanessa Redgrave), who scores major points for staying married to a difficult man. In one instance, after twenty-some years of selfless devotion to her marriage and family, Clementine defies her husband's self-centeredness and goes off on a Pacific jolly to chase Komodo Dragons, a large lizard. You go, girl!

This isn't a riveting drama by any means, but it's an extremely competent portrayal of the man and his times. For one already acquainted with Churchill's career, it offers nothing new. For one who knows nothing of Churchill or that period of Britain's history between the wars, it's perhaps a must-see. Much of it was filmed at Churchill's home of the time, Chartwell, now a National Trust property.

The very best thing about Finney's portrayal is his voice. I could close my eyes and easily imagine that it was Winston himself speaking. However, this aspect of the production also leads to its greatest failing, which is that not enough of Churchill's great oratory was heard. As I watched the ending credits roll, I thought how they needed a voice-over of Winston's greatest speech - the one that even now brings chills to me (a non-Brit), and which includes:

"Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour."

Summary:
The movie is based upon the life of Winston Churchill (Albert Finney). It begins just as information about the German re-armament is beginning to seep into British political life. Winston is an aging statesman that is losing his political clout. When his insights into the impending German military conquest are reinforced by hard data given to him secretly by Ralph Wigram (Linus Roache), Winston's perspective takes parliament by storm, resulting in the resignation of the Prime Minister and the eventual appointment of Winston as Prime Minister.

However, the primary story is only half of what makes this movie superb. The other half is the remarkable portrayal of the relationship between Winston and his wife, Clemmie (Vanessa Redgrave). Perhaps what really drives the relationship in the movie is when Clemmie, who has sacrificed so much of her life and been so selfless for so many years in support of her husband's career, finally decides to take a trip alone, leaving Winston without the support he has counted on for so many years.

My Comments:
This movie is remarkably well-done. I didn't even recognize Albert Finney (from Erin Brockovich); I couldn't place him and was stunned when I saw his name in the credits. I felt kind of foolish afterward. In retrospect it's pretty obvious, but I sure had a difficult time of it he was so convincing. All of the actors did a superb job; I can't even begin to complain about any of the portrayals.

As noted above, the love story is very touching. What makes it even more touching is that Winston Churchill is not idealized or romanticized in anyway - he had a very strong personality and likely was very difficult to live with. However, if this movie is even a remotely accurate portrayal of the relationship he had with his wife, he loved two things very deeply (other than himself of course), his wife and his country, and both of these loves are very explicitly conveyed in the movie, but in a convincing way. (I do wonder if 'Pug' was a real petname for him...)

In the end you find yourself falling in love with Winston Churchill, despite his arrogance and his overbearing personality; he believed in something and was willing to fight tenaciously for it. When the movie ends you feel like you've been in the presence of a great man. Now, I'm not one to revere people; but occasionally you do meet people that are just, well, amazing. I've only met one other person that I could compare to Winston Churchill, but you wouldn't know him so I won't get into it. Anyway, I would have followed Mr. Churchill and I don't throw my allegiances around lightly.

Overall, the movie is both touching and powerful. It introduces you to both the husband and statesman of Winston Churchill, as well as his backside (you get to see Albert Finney's butt in the very opening scene, not that that should be an attraction, 'butt' anyway...). The movie isn't showy; it's very straightforward, has a very specific agenda, and sticks with its main character. It is very well done and teaches history at the same time. I would highly recommend it.

Okay, so for my money Winston Churchill was the greatest character of the last century. Larger than life and who defied all and sundry when he thought he was right (which was practically always). Could this or any other movie live up to the memory of a legend. The Gathering Storm managed very well, thanks in no short measure to the amazing performance by Albert Finney who not only looked and sounded like the great man but also captured the Bulldog Defiance which served the British people and indeed the world so well during World War II. Vanessa Redgrave must also be acknowledged for her performance as the power behind the cigar. In fact every actor in this movie turns in a stunning performance, including Tom Wilkenson who has long been one of my favorite undiscovered actors (discovered now of course). I understand that a sequel is in the works and I hope this is true. Because this surely is only the first course and what should be a sumptious feast of history, acting, writing and dircetion. Just don't keep us waiting too long.