El joven Winston y El instante más oscuro: Winston Churchill como líder político en una Europa cambiante

Marta Frago; Daniel Sierra

doi:10.24310/Fotocinema.2020.vi21.9999

Authors

Marta Frago Universidad de Navarra, España Spain
Daniel Sierra Universidad de Navarra, España Spain

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24310/Fotocinema.2020.vi21.9999

Keywords:

Biographical dramas, Biopic, Historical Films, Churchill, Winston, Narratives of crisis, European Dream

Abstract

The release of both Young Winston (R. Attenborough, 1972) and Darkest Hour (J. Wright, 2017) coincide with two critical moments in the history of Europe and United Kingdom. The former, in the wake of the 1968 protest movements; the latter, in the midst of the political and socio-economic decline of the Western world. Both films offer a positive portrayal of Winston Churchill as a political leader. In this article, we link the concrete qualities highlighted in Churchill’s character with the crisis that was escalating at the time of each release. Besides, we connect the two biopics to the relevant stages of the "European Dream": namely, its peak and its decline. The analysis concludes that in both films Churchill’s image is cut out according to the most desired leadership pattern of the related historical time period.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biographies

Marta Frago, Universidad de Navarra, España

Marta Frago is Associate Professor of Introduction to Screenwriting and Film Adaptations in the Department of Film, TV & Digital Media. School of Communication. University of Navarra (Spain). She has published abundant articles on books-to-film adaptations, films based on real events and on people's lives. She is the author of Leer, dialogar, escribir cine. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala y la adaptación cinematográfica (Eunsa, 2007) and has edited Personaje, acción e identidad en cine y literatura (Ediciones Internacionales Universitarias, 2006).

Daniel Sierra, Universidad de Navarra, España

Daniel Sierra has a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the University of Navarra, where he is currently working on his doctoral thesis. Assigned to the Department of Film, TV & Digital Media (School of Communication), he researches on the recreation of biographical characters for audiovisual fiction. He also works in the Quality and Innovation Service at the University of Navarra (Spain).

References

Attemborough, R. (1972). Young Winston. UK: Praesens-Film.
Bingham, D. (2010). Whose Lives Are They Anyway? The Biopic as Contemporary Film Genre. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Bishop. Michael F. (2018). Churchill on Screen: the Five Best. Finest Hour, 1 (179): 8-11.
Campbell, J. (1949). The hero with a thousand faces. Princeton: Bollingen Series.
Cerny, P. G. (2010). Afterword: The New Pessimism in Twenty-First Century World Politics. En T. Stevens, & N. Michelsen (eds). Pessimism in International Relations. Provocations, Possibilities, Politics. Londres: Palgrave.
Chapman, J. (2005). Past and Present: National Identity and the British Historical Film. Londres: Tauris.
Churchill, W. (1930, ed. 2012). My early life. Londres: Eland.
Ferro, Marc. (2008). El cine: una visión de la historia. Madrid: Akal.
Frago, M. & Alfonso, A. (2017). 2008–2013 Political Biopics: Adapting Leaders for a Time of Crisis. Javnost the Public 1 (24), 1-14. DOI: 10.1080/13183222.2017.1275162
Gonza?lez-Requena, J. (2006). Cla?sico, Manierista, Postcla?sico. Los modos del relato en el cine de Hollywood. Valladolid: Castilla Ediciones.
Jenkins, R. (2002). Churchill. Barcelona: Península.
Landy, M. (1991). British Genres. Cinema and Society: 1930-1960. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Landy, M. (2001). The historical film: History and memory in media. New Brundswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Marin Pedreño, H. (2018). Mayo del 68: días de Júpiter. Arbor, 194 (787), a434. https://doi.org/10.3989/arbor.2018.787n1007
Marwick, A. (2000). Introduction: Locating Key Text Amid the Distinctive Landscape of the Sixties. En A. Aldgate, J. Chapman & A. Marwick (eds.). Windows on the Sixties. Exploring Key Text of Media and Culture. Londres: I. B. Tauris, xi-xxi.
Marwick, A. (2006). Youth Culture and the Cultural Revolution of the long Sixties. En A. Schidt & D. Siegfried (eds.). Between Marx and Coca-Cola. Youth Cultures in Changing European Societies, 1960-1980. Oxford (UK): Berghagn Books, 39-58.
Morgan, I. W. (2011). Presidents in the Movies: American History and Politics on Screen. Nueva York: Palgrave McMillan.
Kenny, M. y Pearce, N. (2014). Political Leadership in an Anti-Political Age. Juncture 21 (2), 122–130. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2050-5876.2014.00791.x
Pérez López, P. (2018). Mayo del 68: historia y legado. Cincuenta an?os de la revolucio?n final. Nuestro Tiempo 698, 104-111.
Pennacchia, M. (2016). Culturally British Bio(e)pics: From Elisabeth to The King’s Speech. En M. Minier & M. Pennacchia (eds). Adaptation, Intermediality and the British Celebrity Biopic. Nueva York: Routledge, 33-50.
Roberts, A. (2018). Churchill: Walking with destiny. Nueva York: Viking.
Rodríguez Sáez, A. (2018). El populismo: de intruso a problema relevante para la ciencia social. Revista Internacional de Sociología, 76 (4), e114. DOI: 10.3989/ris.2018.76.4.18.076
Rosenstone, R. (2006). History on Film / Film on History. Londres: Longman Pearson.
Scott, I. (2011). American Politics in Hollywood Film. Edimburgo: Edinburgh University Press.
Toplin, R. B. (1996). History by Hollywood: The Use and Abuse of the American Past. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Toplin, R. B. (2002). Reel History: In Defense of Hollywood. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
Vidal, B. (2014). The Biopic and Its Critical Contexts. En T. Brown & B. Vidal. The Biopic in Contemporary Film Culture. London: Routledge, 1-32.
Wright, J. (2017). Darkest Hour. USA y UK: Working Title Films / PWPIC.
Zurro, J. (2018). "El cine se rinde a Winston Churchill”, El Español, 11 de enero de 2018. https://www.elespanol.com/cultura/cine/20180111/no-quedan-lideres-cine-rinde-winston-churchill/276473054_0.html