The Gathering Storm (2002)

The Gathering Storm is a HBO/BBC co-production focusing on a pre World War Two, Winston Churchill, a lone voice warning of German aggression. Churchill is brilliantly portrayed by Albert Finney, someone who is much an outcast, practicing his speeches which are spoken in an almost empty Commons chamber. Struggling with money, a growing family and cajoling information from the Foreign Office.Linus Roache is Ralph Wigram the Foreign Office mole who hands Churchill a lot of sensitive information. At the time of the original broadcast of the film, there was controversy as Wigram's role had been exaggerated as in reality there were several people giving information to Churchill.Vanessa Redgrave plays Churchill's wife who has had to suppress her own ambitions to raise a family and keep the home going and is desperate to take a trip to the Far East to explore.The film has an all star cast from Jim Broadbent, Tom Wilkinson, Derek Jacobi and early appearances from Hugh Bonneville and Tom Hiddleston.The film also marks the return to acting from Ronnie Barker who had retired from show-business in 1987. With such a cast, its little wonder he returned from retirement as the butler Inches and very much steals the film.The film looks gorgeous, is very well acted but comes across as clunky which is very much fault of the script. We do see another side of Churchill who was more complex and I still think he is painted very much as the hero underdog. During his earlier stint in government he had done some unsavoury things as well as having a fondness for the drink.There were also the juxtaposition of Wigram who has a disabled son being taken aback by the Nazi's pursuit of policies relating to racial purity and wanting to get rid of people who are abnormal. Its done in a rather ham fisted way. We get it; Wigram wants the Nazi stopped because if they took over the world they will murder his child and other children like him.The subject matter is still interesting and demands attention but maybe a more flowing and edgy screenplay was needed.

I bought this movie on DVD and didn't watch it for a few weeks, expecting another dry commentary on this WWII icon. When I finally pulled it out of it's plastic, I was pleasantly surprised! This is a movie that finally shows Winston the human—both as a father and (with more in depth development) a husband. It shows the vulnerable Winston behind the plump bellied, arrogant, smelly-cigar-smoking, politician. History books generally paint Churchill a bit one dimensional (in my humble opinion)—more like a caricature of a man. Within this movie he comes to life; a warm blooded human being living in a home with a family; enduring, persevering, enjoying and surviving all that life offers him.

I enjoyed this very much, although I had certain quibbles. Finney is excellent and you forget that you are watching an actor. It could be argued that he portrays Churchill as an older man than he actually was in the 1930's when he was in his early 60's. The Finney Churchill is more like the late-war Winston, approaching 70. Derek Jacobi is miscast as Baldwin, who was a much more avuncular character, at least in his public persona. He is also not physically bulky enough. Poor old Neville Chamberlain is airbrushed out altogether and the film skates straight over the 1938 Munich Crisis, the apogee of Appeasement and deprived Churchill of some of his best lines, e.g. 'We have suffered an unmitigated defeat. On the other hand Vanessa Redgrave was superb as Clemmie and when Churchill returned to the Admiralty in triumph I shed an unashamed tear.

This is Albert Finney's defining film role. I have never seen Churchill portrayed in a movie so I cannot compare what I have seen here to anyone else's attempts. However, Churchill is now, in my mind, as portrayed in this excellent made-for-TV-film. HBO have hit the nail on the head with this one and the historical accuracy shows how incredible the events leading up to WW2 actually were. We enter the personal life of arguably the most famous Briton ever. By the end, we find out why the country loved this man so much.He is brash, he was clever, and he was right. Annoying to give in to such a arrogant man but he fully deserved it. Albert Finney brings a performance to the screen as equally compelling as De Niro's la Motta, or Pacino's Scarface. Finney is masterful in his performance and I can find no flaws. Clemmie, Vanessa Redgrave, provides a brilliant portrayal of a equally engrossing suffering wife and pleasant cameos by Ronnie Barker, Jim Broadbent and Derek Jacobi add superb pedigree to an already perfect film. There I said it, this film is flawless, magnificent and a joy to watch over and over.