I found The Gathering Storm to be an excellent historical drama, particularly with the leading characters of Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine ("Clemmie") played by Albert Finney and Vanessa Redgrave. How wonderful to have such accomplished actors whose performances give such vivid impressions of great characters from the past. Linus Roache gave a splendid performance as the Foreign Office official who puts principle above personal gain, with great risk to his own young family. Derek Jacobi is a great actor who continues to do excellent work. His Stanley Baldwin may not have been a lookalike for the prime minister who dominated so much of public life in the 1920's and 30's but I still found his performance impressive with a very moving scene where the two meet towards the end of the show. Actors Jim Broadbent, Hugh Bonneville, Ronnie Barker, Celia Imrie, Lena Headey and Tom Wilkinson give added depth to the movie. The domestic life of the Churchills at their Chartwell estate sheds light on the difficult relationship between Winston and Clemmie during Churchill's dark period in the 1930's when he felt like a voice in the wilderness against the tyranny of Germany and the threat it posed to Great Britain. Winnie had his dog days and Clemmie told him how much she realized he needed to get back into the fray so he didn't subject the whole household to his moods. Winston took this as a backhand vote of support. The love and affection they share for one another is palpable, despite the strains on the marriage. There is also a strong hint of an affair between Clemmie and another man when she leaves for a lengthy cruise. In any case, the couple reunite and Winston eventually achieves his goal of re-entering public life with her by his side. This is the kind of movie I could watch again and again and the cast is superb.

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 have read most of Mr. Churchill's writings (tens of thousands of pages) and he was the greatest leader of his day and perhaps in England's great history.The liberal/pacifist fools of the day (Stanley Baldwin/Chamberlin) and their attempts to placate Hitler, made Hitler whom he became, a ruthless and brutal thug. The League of Nations placated Hitler and allowed the Treaty of Versailles to be violated, repeatedly, until it had no weight or validity.Does any of this sound familiar today? Yes, the UN, the new league, has done nothing to stop brutal thugs throughout the globe; however, fools in America and abroad are still acting as if everything will be fine, if we just let these thugs be. Fool.The Movie was perfectly acted on all accounts, and Finney performed an Oscar worthy.

This film covers the period 1934 to 1939. From Hitler's rise to power up to the outbreak of WW2, we get an intimate glimpse of Winston Churchill in retirement, most reluctantly. He works hard to make ends meet via his writing, turning out a really prodigious amount of history. My own collection of his works extends beyond three feet of shelf space! He is also working hard in Parliament, trying to keep England from falling apart by means of his speeches. Churchill the public man fights on, Churchill the private man suffers pangs of jealousy when his wife takes a six months vacation. All this goes on against the background of Hitler's steady and relentless march to conquest, while the "peace at any price" government of Stanley Baldwin buries its head in the sand and tries any stratagem to keep Winston from informing the public. Baldwin resigns after Hitler marches into the Rhineland. When he attacks Poland, Chamberlain appoints Winston First Lord of the Admiralty. WINSTON IS BACK! Seven months later, he is Prime Minister.The acting in this dramatised history lesson is excellent, as is the direction. Albert Finney and Vanessa Redgrave might almost BE Winston and Clemmie. The film goes no further than what I have outlined, but we should note that the public's memory is short. After the successful conclusion of WW2 by the allies, the British public turned its back on their wartime leader and rejected Churchill once again. Truly, Weird goes ever as she will!