Original subtitles

Action!

What goes on down here?

That's need to know, and you don't.

A war cabinet has been formed of five members.

Action!

Darkest Hour is a movie

about the first month of Winston Churchill's

time as Prime Minister in 1940.

We are in the preliminary stage

of one of the greatest battles in history.

It is only five weeks of Churchill's life.

Five very, very significant, crucial weeks

in our history, in our civilization.

First, we must rouse our old friends to an heroic resistance.

Winston had written three of the greatest speeches ever written

within a four-week period of each other.

So that begged the question, what was the context

that motivated this outpouring of brilliance.

Conquer we must, as conquer we shall.

Well done, sir.

The opportunity to work with Gary was also a big draw.

I am, uh, telephoning about your, uh, navy ships.

There are those jobs where you just

get that excitement back that you remember

why you wanted to do it in the first place.

You've wanted this your entire adult life.

No, since the nursery.

Gary is a great collaborator

and it was interesting for both of us to discover

who Winston really was,

and try and bring that to an audience.

You might even rise up

and tear me down would I for one moment contemplate parlay or surrender.

Most of the characters who appear in the film actually existed in real life.

Clemmie was an extraordinary woman.

She had very strong ideas about politics

and about what should be done in the world and how things should be run.

If the king does ask you to become Prime Minister...

We don't know that for sure. I don't want you to be disliked.

More than I already am?

Kristin and I had a really good chemistry.

I think we really hit it off.

Who should show up? Pig.

I think her Clementine

is the best I've ever seen.

I think you were nervous and he has a knack for drawing out

the very worst in those who are trying to help him the most.

No, no, it's not him. It's me.

Elizabeth Layton, his secretary,

a lot of the story is told through her point of view.

In think, in a way, she's meant to be

the eyes of the audience, the kind of fresh eyes

and, kind of, the every man.

I'm not allowed in that room. Well, you are now.

Lily is really impressive.

She brings forensic study of detail

and dedication.

Okay, check that.

One moment. Check now. Thank you!

She types on an old-fashioned, clunky typewriter,

like she's a pro.

I received his majesty's commission

to form a new administration.

The king is not thrilled

that Churchill is going to take power.

Not thrilled at all.

Winston lacks judgment.

From the beginning, I knew I wanted Ben to play this role.

How are you for Mondays?

Four o'clock? I nap at 4:00.

He's an extraordinary talent.

He has this wild energy.

And then you say action, and suddenly everything goes "zoop"

and focuses into this reallyintense point of concentration.

Well, that was quite easy.

Yes, it was.

What we wanted is,

for when Churchill walks into a room and you know exactly who he is.

Jacqueline Durran manages to do the proportion and spirit of the person

better than anyone I know.

A lot of things were made in places where Churchill's clothes were made.

But then all of those things had to be adjusted

to suit Gary and create the right proportion,

and that's quite hard.

There're many ways of looking at a period

and you can pull out any number of images from a period

and decide that it looked

any number of different ways.

London in May 1940, didn't look much like it does now.

It was a lot dirtier.

So, we spent some time shooting up in Yorkshire

and our Downing Street location was up there

and our interior palace was up there.

So, we were allowed to create that

very grubby, kind of saggy

very down at heel quality that the whole film hopefully has.

I think about 50 percent of the movie takes place in the war rooms.

What department is this?

It was like a maze down in those war rooms.

We had two weeks just locked down there for a fair bit, like

well it might have done you a bit stir-crazy.

When you stepped on that huge set,

you were unmistakably in another world.

We wanted this claustrophobic atmosphere.

This kind of, intense pressure on these people.

Europe is still... Europe is lost.

This room in particular,

actually, is identical, it's the same scale.

The way that they've got the brickwork

and the air supply

and even the girders and things,

it's so realistic and it's so like the original.

It's just unbelievable.

And the attention to detail,

even the pins in the maps,

were in the right place. I mean, they must have gone to the war rooms

and taken thousands of photographs.

Parliament said it was possible for us to shoot in the real House of Commons,

except no one was allowed to sit on any seats.

I think only MPs' bums are allowed

on the benches of the commons.

So, we had to build our own.

We shall fight in the hills.

We shall never surrender!

There's nothing like having 450 extras

in a set that's been built exactly, almost one-to-one,

of the House of Commons in 1940.

And then have Gary Oldman walk on

as Winston Churchill and give that great speech...

By sea, land, and air, with all our might.

It's wonderful lo see him blend in.

You would not know that there is

Gary Oldman

full of prosthetics and in lots of costume.

And it really is a spine-tingling moment.

And people would pay a fortune to go and see that in the theater

and there you are, standing there.

You know, two foot away from him, just listening to this guy.

The New World,

with all its power and might...

I wanted to say those words.

It's such a remarkable moment.

...steps forth to the rescue

and the liberation of the old.

Bravo! Bravo!

Joe and I would discuss things.

It was lovely to be working with someone who had

such a vision for the film,

that I thought was unique.

He's open to all sorts of ideas.

He's not completely fixed on one way or another.

- The prime minister. - The prime minister.

Joe is often a man of surprises.

If you think something is going to be one way,

he will give you a left turn and it goes another way.

And the surprises work very well.

He brings a real sense of intimacy

and humanity, and personal relationships between the characters.

He tells stories, paints pictures So beautifully.

Being given the opportunity to play Winston Churchill,

it's like Christmas. You come in every day and you're like

"I can't believe...

I'm so lucky, I'm so fortunate to be doing this."