Darkest Hour, writer Anthony McCarten, director Joe Wright, with Gary Oldman, Lily James, Kristin Scott Thomas

Darkest Hour, writer Anthony McCarten, director Joe Wright, with Gary Oldman, Lily James, Kristin Scott Thomas

Even if this is the Darkest Hour, this note is intended to have a look at it Through a Glass Brightly

Positive Psychology is not about being Panglossian or Pollyannaish and it also deals with Adversity and Trauma

Darkest Hour, as the name suggests, represents a nadir in the history of Britain and the whole world

But luckily, someone like Winston Churchill rose and took the lead in the fight against Nazism and its leader, the corporal…

The Character Strengths of this extraordinary man make him the ultimate role model, except for some normal, human shortcomings:

Leadership, Bravery, Persistence, Creativity, Open Mindedness, Love of Learning, Perspective, Citizenship, Fairness, Mercy, Integrity, Vitality, Kindness, Appreciation of Excellence

Gratitude, Hope, Humor, Spirituality, Self-Regulation- well, perhaps without considering the alcohol-

These are all Signature Strengths that the glorious statesman had and that was the saving of Europe

Speculations can be made

Indeed, even Churchill, in one of the most famous and brilliant speeches ever, mentions the Americans

If Britain fights- and he made sure that it did- and it would be occupied in large part, then the rest of the Empire would continue the struggle

And the Americans would have intervened at one point, but who knows how late, if not after the Fascists would control too much of the world

The ascension of Winston Churchill has been far from a sure, easy thing and he was not the favorite to become Prime Minister

Darkest Hour presents many of the details that concerned the backroom deals and conflicts, even after the great man became leader

Neville Chamberlain maneuvered with Lord Halifax to prevent Churchill from pushing too far and they wanted peace

It is also true that the situation was grave in the Darkest Hour and it looked like the whole British Army would be wiped out

It took the Visionary Churchill and his majestic, outstanding decision to order private ships to engage with the Dunkirk evacuation

Otherwise, the generals estimated that only 10% of the soldiers and officers would have been brought to Britain

One of the other best films of 2017, Dunkirk, deals with that part of the World War II in detail

The Prime Minister had to take another excruciatingly painful decision regarding the Calais unit.

The British had about 4,000 men there and they were needed to fight the Nazis in order to allow precious time for the main operation, the repatriation of the 300,000 troops from Dunkirk.

The soldiers and officers at Calais had to sacrifice themselves in order to allow the saving of more men

The leader of the British Empire writes a letter to their commander, specifying that there would be no evacuation for those at Calais.

His secretary, Elizabeth Layton aka the excellent Lily James, cries while typing that letter that would be sent to Calais

If glorified, admired as one the Greatest leaders and statesmen of all time, Churchill was loathed by many before becoming Prime Minister

His heavy drinking habits were notorious and disliked: he started the day late, with alcohol and continued till the late hours of the nigh

Churchill is said to have drank a quart of scotch and a bottle of Champagne on an average day

But he was almost never drunk and it has to be emphasized that nobody can be perfect and the other qualities of this man make him an Absolute Hero

This Ubermensch is the one who gave one of the best, most inspiring, important and motivational speeches ever:

“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…”