In association with

Gathering Storm [2002]
from Warner Home Video
starring Albert Finney, Vanessa Redgrave, Jim Broadbent, Linus Roache, Lena Headey
directed by Richard Loncraine

Features:

• PAL
• Widescreen

Editorial Review:

The Gathering Storm is a fictionalised portrayal of Winston Churchill and his wife Clementine during their wilderness years of the 1930s. It deservedly won numerous awards, including an Emmy, BAFTA and Golden Globe in recognition of Albert Finney's wonderful central performance. Equally deserving were those for all aspects of the production design: period wardrobe, set dressing and use of location are equally impressive, apparently ensuring that this production has everything going for it in its depiction of pre-War Britain. The snag is that its restriction to TV movie format, a mere 90 minutes, excludes a lot of historical context that ought not to have been left out.

Seeing Churchill's adoration of his wife (Vanessa Redgrave) or the family woes troubling Ralph Wigram (Linus Roache) is all very emotionally dramatic, but it uses precious screen time that might have been better devoted to highlighting the political situation abroad, or indeed the monarchy's situation at home. The enterprise smacks a little too much of sentimental contrivance, lionising Churchill in rose-tinted retrospect. True, some attempt is made to acknowledge the personality traits that excluded him both from office and popularity prior to Germany's re-building, but like so much else pertinent to the machinations of anticipating the war, these are glossed over for familial feel-goodery and button-pushing poignancy. This is a film that's easy to admire, but ought not to be mistaken for well-rounded history.

On the DVD: The Gathering Storm doesn't look or sound quite as crisp and clear as you'd hope for a recent TV-movie transfer. That's down to some obvious grain in the picture, and the 2.0 surround audio that tends to lose quieter dialogue moments. There are extensive cast and crew biographies that will no doubt help international viewers place the naggingly familiar British faces. There's also the accumulatively enthusiastic commentary from director Richard Loncraine and producer Frank Doelger, which happily points many of them out. --Paul Tonks

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0

• Go for it, you will get wiser about things you probably did not know!
  All performances in this film are remarkable, but especially Linus Roache stands out with a superb performance, as the man with a conscience, who made it possible for Winston Churchill to expose Chamberlains aid to Nazi Germany.
  

• Great. But. Er...
  Wonderfully done; full of fine acting, period detail, and all the spirit, vigour and beauty of Britain before the rot set in.
  The only thing which mars it would have to be, I'm afraid, the unfortunate and rather bizarre low-angled shot of Albert Finney's flapping scrotum as he walks to the loo in the first five minutes. Quite who the pervert was that chose the camera position I do not know, but he renders it rather unfit for children or sensitive adults not in possession of a sickbag.
  Make sure... more info

• Absolutely magnificent
  Joining in with other recent depictions of great politicians and monarchs, this film describes in an exceptional manner the man Winston Churchill. Backed by such extraordinary talents as Vanessa Redgrave, Albert Finney brings Churchill to life in a most excellent way, giving us a thoroughly realistic image of his speeches, his beliefs, his narcissism - his strengths and his weaknesses. Along with his personal life, the troubling times are the centre of the plot. Churchill's particular manner made him the... more info

• Winston Is Back! By Bloody Hell He Is!
  "This is a hugely entertaining movie that gives us a personal glimpse of Churchhill's life at the prelude of his illustrious career. The movie works as well as it does because of Albert Finney's brilliant performance as Churchhill. Finney won an Emmy for this performance and it's not hard to see why. His portrayal of the former Prime Mister of England is the greatest acting performance I've seen in years. The way Finney so effortlessly molded himself into the character is simply astonishing." David Blairmore info

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