Darkest Hour

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Darkest Hour is a 2017 film about Winston Churchill and his efforts to lead Great Britain through World War II in the early months of his premiership, when victory seems hopeless.

Directed by Joe Wright. Written by Anthony McCarten.
A man with the heart of a nation. taglines

Winston Churchill

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  • I'm getting the job only because the ship is sinking. It's not a gift, it's revenge.
  • (exiting the bathroom naked) Miss? I'm coming out in a state of nature!
  • (on the toilet) Please tell the Privy Seal that I am currently sealed in the privy and I can only deal with one shit at a time.
  • Will you stop interrupting me while I am interrupting you?
  • When will the lesson be learned?! When-will-the-lesson-be-learned?! How many more dictators must be wooed, appeased - Good God, given immense privileges! - before we learn?! You cannot reason with a tiger when your head is in its mouth!
  • Nations which go down fighting rise again, and those that surrender tamely are finished.
  • Turning once again to the question of invasion, I would observe that there has never been a period in all these long centuries of which we boast, when an absolute guarantee against invasion could have been given to our people. I have, myself full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once more able to defend our island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to 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 in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. Even though large tracts 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 or fail. We shall go on to the end! We shall fight in France, we shall fight 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 the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. And if - which I do not for a 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, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old!
  • Those who never change their mind never change anything.

Clementine Churchill

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  • (to Winston) You are strong because you are imperfect. You are wise because you have doubts. From this uncertainty the wisest words will come.
  • Here is a woman who's always tired, for she lives a life where too much is required.

Viscount Halifax

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  • The deadly danger here is this romantic fantasy of fighting to the end. What is "the end" if not the destruction of all things? There's nothing heroic in going down fighting if it can be avoided. Nothing even remotely patriotic in death or glory if the odds are firmly on the former. Nothing inglorious in trying to shorten a war we are clearly losing.
  • He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.

King George VI

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  • You know what? I feel angry. In this moment I'm aware of feeling—bloody angry.
  • You gave me some advice once. Perhaps I can give you some. Go to the people. Let them instruct you. Quite silently, they usually do. But tell them... the truth unvarnished.

Dialogue

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King George VI: Winston lacks judgment.
Neville Chamberlain: He was right about Hitler.
King George VI: Well, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
Anthony Eden: (re: the King) You only have to meet him once a week.
Winston Churchill: But that's like saying you only have to have your tooth pulled once a week.
King George VI: I believe we are to meet regularly.
Winston Churchill: Once a week, I'm afraid.
King George VI: How is... How are you for Mondays?
Winston Churchill: Um, I shall endeavor to be available on Mondays.
King George VI: 4:00?
Winston Churchill: I nap at 4:00.
King George VI: Is that permissible?
Winston Churchill: No. But necessary. I work late.
Clementine Churchill: Are we terribly old?
Winston Churchill: Yes, I'm afraid you are.
Clementine Churchill: Oh, you beast!
[They laugh.]
Winston Churchill: Do I have your, uh, permission, uh, to send, uh, an aircraft carrier to pick up the P-40 fighter planes we purchased from you? Mr. President?
President Roosevelt: Well, you-you've got me there again. New law preventing transshipment of military equipment.
Winston Churchill: Uh, but we paid for them. We-we paid for them with the money that we... that we borrowed from you.
Halifax: I will not stand by and watch another generation of young men die at the bloody altar of your hubris!
Winston Churchill: No, you would have us die as lambs!
Viscount Halifax: Was Gallipoli not enough for you?
Winston Churchill: HOW DARE YOU! Our troops were chewing barbed wire in Flanders and I saw it! Opening a second front, outflanking the Turks was a serious military idea and it could have damn well worked if the Admirals and the First Sea Lord hadn't dithered away the element of surprise!
King George VI: How do you manage drinking during the day?
Winston Churchill: Practice.
Winston Churchill: What utter nonsense. Look at me. What could possibly be scary about me?
King George VI: One never knows what's going to come out of your mouth next. Something that'll flatter, something that'll wound.
Winston Churchill: My emotions are unbridled. A wildness in the blood I share with my father. And my mother also. We lack the gift of temperance.
King George VI: Were you close to your parents?
Winston Churchill: My mother was glamorous... but perhaps too widely-loved. My father was... like God. Busy elsewhere.
Winston Churchill: The German army controls every French port except Dunkirk here and Calais here to the west, where the garrison under Brigadier Nicholson is drawing fire and delaying the German advance on Dunkirk. At both points, our troops are encircled. Now, we are still trying to clear Dunkirk Harbor of wrecked ships so that we can then land the boats we need to get our-our boys off those beaches. But enemy aircraft is attacking us constantly. Our... our only hope in Dunkirk is thick cloud cover to thwart these attacks, but the skies remain clear. And even then, I am told we still need a-a-a miracle to get even 10% of our men out. Courage, Miss Layton. Courage. [to a passing officer] General.
Elizabeth Layton: How... how long have they got... if we don't rescue them?
Winston Churchill: One, maybe... two days.
Clementine Churchill: Come to bed, Pug. You've got to sleep.
Winston Churchill: Leave me, Clemmie.
Clementine Churchill: Yes, well, my opportunity to do that passed a long time ago.
Clementine Churchill: Now, get up. You have a visitor.
Winston Churchill: Who?
Clementine Churchill: The King.
Winston Churchill: Which king? Ours?
Clementine Churchill: Well, if it isn't him, it's a marvelous impersonation.
King George VI: And you? Are you not afraid?
Winston Churchill: I am, most terribly.
King George VI: You have my support.
Winston Churchill: ...Your Majesty?
King George VI: You have my support. I confess I had some reservations about you at first. But while some in this country dreaded your appointment, none - none - dreaded it like Adolf Hitler. Whomever can strike fear into that brute heart is worthy of all of our trust. We shall work together, you and I. You shall have my support, at any hour. Beat the buggers.
Winston Churchill: On certain matters I have very few people with whom I can... talk frankly.
King George VI: Perhaps now we have each other.
Winston Churchill: And I no longer scare you?
King George VI: A little. But I can cope.

Cast

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