'Churchill at War'

For when the vibe is masculine, inspiring, and historical.

'Churchill at War' -- Promotional Poster

I love Winston Churchill. I’m not alone in this. Churchill is a fascinating figure and what he was able to do to turn the tide of WWII was nothing short of amazing. I’d be willing to bet that he’s one of, if not, the most studied person in modern history. Beyond appearances in scores of documentaries, he’s been represented in film and television by Gary Oldman, John Lithgow, and Brian Cox in the last decade alone.

I also love a good speech, so I was tickled when Netflix released its latest installment of their WWII-oriented limited series, which leans on Churchill’s many famous speeches and missives to explore four phases of WWII: German aggression and Churchill standing alone as a bastion against the spread of fascism in Europe, the Blitz and England standing alone against Germany with Churchill at the helm, the desperate formation of the second coalition of allied forces, and the war’s aftermath, to include the price paid by Churchill for allied victory.

The show connects the dots between famous events in the war and Churchill’s famous words by placing his most well-known speeches on a timeline and in the context of the war and global affairs. The whole enterprise is couched by expert analysis from historians, speech-writers, world leaders, warfighters, and Churchill’s family members, as well as archival footage and insights from Churchill’s personal correspondence, which paints a comprehensive picture of Churchill throughout the different phases of the war. The show does splice archival footage with reenactments, which feels at times clunky and cheesy, and employs an AI-generated Churchill voice, which is a bit ghoulish. Otherwise, the form of the thing is crisp and compelling.

The show also, as modern documentaries about powerful leaders are wont to do, attempts to balance the greatness of Churchill the figure with the foibles of Churchill the man. On the one hand, ‘Churchill at War’ explores his peerless rhetorical capacity – in one speech, in one sentence, he could embolden his people, entreat his ally, taunt his enemy, and can still bring tears to the eye 60 years later – as well as his almost inhuman ability to mold events to his will. He could predict, when seemingly no one else could, the emergence of a second world war upon seeing Hitler’s aggression in Europe. He could, on the back of a spectacular military failure and after being cast off, disregarded, and despised by his peers in government, rise to the top of that government and direct military strategy with strategic and tactical deftness. He did all of this while building a brand around himself that became the brand of Britain for a generation, and it led them to do what seemed impossible at the time and what still seems like a miracle now. It’s truly extraordinary.

On the other hand, the series attempts to humble and humanize Churchill beyond cigars, baths, and whiskey, by sprinkling in intimate and often amusing vignettes about Churchill that, in my opinion, only serve to fuel his myth. Tidbits like his affinity for hats, his self-designed and bespoke velvet onesie, the intellectual origins of his marriage, and a glorious montage about the emergence of ‘V’ as the symbol of vigor and resistance give color to what would already be a captivating story for history buffs and admirers of Churchill (like me).

Though, there are moments where his humanity is evident. Toward the end, there is a blink-and-you-miss-it shot of Churchill wiping away tears as the war concludes and the insight that, after all his years of work, and while Britons partied in the streets, he spent V-day alone.

Though, in my opinion, the most powerful insight the documentary has to offer is the revelation that, although his self-proclaimed destiny was to ‘save Britain,’ Churchill risked and ultimately lost the Britain that he loved, the great empire, to save Europe and the world. He recognized the threat of fascism before any other leader in his either his own country or the world, and boldly proclaimed that his country would seek victory against fascism at any cost, and then, staunch imperialist though he was, he traded all the resources, capital, and global standing of the British empire for that victory. It’s a truly moving story.

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