Young Winston - Essay Example

Young Winston (1972) Young Winston is a British film from 1972. It is about the early life of the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. In fact, the film has been based on My Early Life: A Roving Commission, a book by the Prime Minister himself (Foreman). Young Winston starts with Churchill’s schooldays. Those days are not ideal for the boy and he is not happy. The film unfolds a number of events and eventually the death of his father. Here ends the first part of the film. In the second part Churchill is a cavalry office in India and Sudan. During his service period he participates in the cavalry charge at Omdurman. The film goes on to show us his experiences as a war correspondent in the Second Boer War. In this war Churchill was taken prisoner but he managed to escape. Later on he is elected to the Parliament at an early age of 26. The film jumps from one period to another; it seems that the director was trying to avoid monotony and make his film different from the usual lumbering films. He has used flashbacks and narrations throughout the film to make it interesting. However, at times these get confusing. In the beginning of the film Winston has been shown to be a hopeless depressive. His childhood was not happy, and although he lived in a palace and belonged to a well off family, his parents did not give him the time that a young child requires. Winston’s father was an excellent man in the intellectual sense. But he was complex as well and he could not become a good father or husband. He called Winston his “biggest disappointment”. However, that does not stop the audience from pitying him at the time when his career is on the verge of destruction and he is starting to lose his mind – no doubt the actor did a great job. Winston’s mother was a great lady. She was beautiful and charming and the people respected her, looked upon her and envied her. However, that did not make her a good mother, and she hardly ever paid attention to her son. When Winston grew older he no longer needed her and had understood that she would not be there for him and so he started pulling away from her. Young Winston has happy parts, sad parts and funny parts. Once a teenage boy, Winston became overconfident of everything which made some people move away from him. But this was no surprise – the kind of childhood that he had gotten was expected to have some sort of effect upon the poor boy, and this is what happened. Later on Winston’s father dies after which it seemed that Winston decided to get himself together and stand up for himself. He becomes a soldier following which he starts writing and then gets interested in politics. He created himself and then maintained too. The movie is a great watch. It is an absolutely correct depiction of Winston Churchill’s life. William Manchester’s views regarding the film say that he finds it “sterile and devoid of conflict”. In the film’s defence it can be said that it was only portraying the real life of Winston, and could not have added anything that did not fit the description. The film makers could not have changed the facts just for some suspense and excitement. That is not to say that the film is not exciting. Several parts of the film do get exciting, not to mention dignified. However, Manchester is right in his view that it “But [...] one had hoped for more”. The movie could have been even better. When starting a film about the life of a great leader who has done a lot for your country, one automatically expects it to be grand and full of excitement. This film, however, did not exactly give us the human being who is after the facade. Although the film portrayed Winston’s life accurately, it was very much clear that the person we are watching is far from Churchill himself. The film created his image but did not allow us to glance at the personality properly. Young Winston was not able to capture the attention of the audience completely. There are times in the movie when it makes you wonder why something is happening. For instance, why Winston is behaving the way he is. The film could have been better with a little suspense and spice. Of course, they would have had to change the story slightly, and maybe add things that were not a part of the Prime Minister’s life, but that could have been tolerated as then the audience would have had something more to think about and it does not really matter if the events in the life of a politician are altered as long as they do not defame him. At its best the film is a conventional movie biography. It goes on as expected and there is no sense of surprise or suspense in the movie. The story unfolds as one expects it to. Al scenes have been covered that seem to be important to the story; for instance, those which tell us about Winston’s failures. Now here the audience already know that later on Winston will become a great man and these failures do not worry them. We see Winston argue with his mother about the maiden speech he wants to give. Again, we know that his mother will lose the argument and Winston will go ahead with his plans. And the speech is also included in the movie, although it is not very understandable for a common man. This speech is one of the scenes which fit well with Manchester’s review of the film when he says that: “the movie rolls along like a well-made Pinero play, occasionally hitting us over the head with thudding reminders of the towering figure our hero will someday become”. The speech is where the movie ends. The ending reveals us his life only to the point of him having moved into the sphere of fame and “manhood”. He gives the speech and is applauded. He has finally taken a step to do something important and he has set himself on an adventure. All his life he had heard his father calling him a disappointment and good for nothing. Now finally he has been able to prove himself, and it does not matter that his father is no longer alive, at least he knows his self-worth and so do others. This is the scene where the movie ends and there is way too much glory in this scene – more than what was necessary we can say. That same evening Winston spots a girl whom he falls in love with immediately. Once more, we know that he will marry her, albeit not for a few years. The best part about this film is that all three actors who played Winston Churchill in the film have resemblance with each other, and surprisingly, also with the real Churchill himself. This film is that it is a completely accurate narration of the life of Winston Churchill. It has, what we can call, dutifully told his story. However, it cannot be called an insightful film. Most details are there in the film but there is no drama whatsoever. The film has at times skipped some parts that the director probably thought were not very important. Besides that, it is a bit slow at times too and feels dragged. Young Winston is one of those films that are good yet you do not find them very interesting and they could have worked more on it to make it even better. It is the film that Manchester says we can settle for. It tells a story and that is it, and it only tells what is needed to unfold the story and lead it on to Winston becoming the hero. For instance, Winston was renowned for his facetious and witty attitude while in the film the man reaches his 25th birthday and yet has just said one single amusing line. Nevertheless, the scenes are filmed nicely and the costumes are great and fit well. The actors were good too and they played their part wonderfully. They delivered their level best. Special attention must be given to Winston in this aspect. Simon Ward had played Churchill and, not only did he look like him but his physical gestures and vocals also reminded one of the Prime Minister. In short, the casting was perfect. If only the story could have been improved and there could have been some drama and suspense, not to mention logics and explanations, the film could have received higher ratings. Of course, the film did bring Winston Churchill to life, but it was not insightful. The film attempted to do a lot but did not completely succeed. It is possible that it could have been improved had more time been given to it. Works Cited Ebert, Roger. Young Winston Movie Review and Film Summary (1972). 14 December 1972. 10 December 2013 . Turner Classic Movies. Young Winston (1972) - Overview. n.d. 10 December 2013 . Young Winston. By Carl Foreman. Dir. Richard Attenborough. Perf. Simon Ward, Robert Shaw and Anne Bancroft. 1972. Read More