The Gathering Storm...

I was just a little disapointed in this film because in its mere 96 minute time frame it is only able to give a glimpse into the life and character of one of the most brilliant men in history. Still, I loved it.

Albert Finney is one of my very favorite actors and again he is just amazing here almost becoming Churchill in certain moments. Vanessa Redgrave is equally as brilliant as Clemmie, Churchill's essential wife. The relationship portrayed between them is very sweet.

This film covers just a small segment of Churchill's time before WW11 and it still is only able to hint at the things that he was able to accomplish.

Churchill was a man who knew all his life that he would be called upon to save his country and so he prepared and prepared to be standing at the ready when his call came. Unprepared for war as England was, Chuchill seemed to build a wall that though the enemy pounded at day after day, the wall would not crumble. And though none of this is in the film, I can't help but include here a segment of one of his speeches where he calls every freedom loving nation together to fight a common threat..

"I have myself full confidence that if all do their duty and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our island home, ride out the storms of war outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary, for years, if necessary, alone.
At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty's Government, every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and their need, will defend to the death their native soils, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength, even though a large tract of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule.

We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France and on the seas and oceans; we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills. We shall never surrender and even if, which I do not for the moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the struggle until in God's good time the New World with all its power and might, sets forth to the liberation and rescue of the Old. " Winston Churchill June 4, 1940

The cost was very great for the people of England who stood firm during this terrible time. Knowing what they did and what they accomplished and what they preserved makes this speech inspiring every time I read it.

Now I have just gone off on a mental tangent... if you're still reading... See this movie. If you know everything about Churchill, I think you will be amazed by Finney's portrayal and touched by many of the scenes. If you know nothing of Churchill, this might be a good place to start.