The Gathering Storm
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Movie Reviews of The Gathering Storm
Movie Review: The onset of evil
Summary: 5 Stars
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
Movie Review: One of the best historical films
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
Movie Review: Greatness Personified
Summary: 5 Stars
This lion in the bush, old and tired,finds much to do, and can be very dangerous. This is a remarkable, personl look at Winston Churchill, the lion, in retirement, out of favor. To see this great man in color up close within his last home (Chartwell) fully realized, warts and all,played by the likes of Albert Finney, is a special treat.Churchill once said, "We're all worms in the end...but at least I'm a glow worm." Yes, he was. This extraordinary diplomat,leader, writer, painter, should be studied and imitated until someone of his magnitude appears on the world stage again.This is the closest thing to Winston Churchill in the flesh that I have ever seen, weaving myth,legend and fact into a glorious drama for those who want to see history brought alive. Vanessa Redgrave plays a wonderful "Clemmie" to the great one and their volatile relationship,like fire and ice, endures. I wanted to see more speechmaking, then I realized he left those to posterity, and allowed us to see the man as his family, servants and devoted followers did. There were also small touches to hint at his technical aptitude, his inventions, that people forget. This film only depicts this one valley in Churchill's life,yet there were others and you need not ask how he fared, for his life could be summed up by his own words,"Never give up!"Movie Review: Finney's performance a masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Gathering Storm" was a good bit better than what I expected. I thought Robert Hardy's portrayal of Churchill in "The Wilderness Years," some 20 years ago, could not be topped. Albert Finney has proved me wrong as his is as good if not better. Of course, the storyline is frustratingly similar. The premise is that over 90% of the British public are opposed to war with Germany in the 1930's. Many actually sympathize with the Germans for what was seen as unfair terms of the Versailles Treaty.
British political leaders pander to the mood of pacifism with one exception: Winston Churchill. Churchill stands alone in his concerns for the Nazi war machine as it is built up in the mid-30's. British pacifists adopt a program of appeasing Hitler and his Nazi gangs with the inevitable result. Weakness invites agression as we've seen in our own time and soon the British face what they wanted to avoid most: World War II.
The story begs for a sequel and we hear one is now being formulated, to include Albert Finney as Churchill. Let's hope the other main stars are brought back, as well. Kudos to HBO for actually making movies for thinking adults. Shows like this are few and far between. Grab this DVD while you can.
Movie Review: Destiny commands. We must obey.
Summary: 5 Stars
THE GATHERING STORM is a compelling look at the lion in wilderness. The lion, of course, is Winston Churchill (Albert Finney) and the wilderness is the political exclusion he endured circa 1938-39. It was during those years that Germany rearmed at an alarming rate; England slept while Adolf Hitler plotted. It was also a time that found Churchill gadflying from opposition to Indian independence to futilely warning England, and the world, about the newly dangerous Nazi Germany.
Such is the political context TGS takes place in, but the movie devotes most of its 90-some minutes to domestic life at Chartwell, Churchill's country estate and the place he amassed and assessed the intelligence on Germany fed to him by a variety of sources, most notably Foreign Office official Ralph Wigram (Linus Roache). Vanessa Redgrave plays Churchill's wife Clemmie, a woman who was as much a match for her famous husband as Redgrave is a match for the superb Finney.
THE GATHERING STORM won't teach you all that much about English politics on the eve of World War II, or even that much about Churchill the politician. As a character study of a complex politician it's simply brilliant, and strongly recommended.