Head of the Churchill Archives, Allen Packwood OBE, discusses the reason films about Winston Churchill avoid his controversies.
Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during World War II, is often celebrated as a ‘bulldog warrior,’ with many lauding his strong leadership as pivotal for allied victory over Nazi Germany.
The two biopics Darkest Hour (2017) and Churchill (2017) span Winston Churchill’s war campaign, but the thing both fail to cover are Churchill’s actions in India and role in the Bengal Famine of 1943.
Mr. Packwood said: “I think one of the main reasons why movies shy away from the portrayal of darker moments in World War II is that those moments are more complicated and until recently, have been too raw for a generation that lived through, or grew up in the shadow of, the Second World War.”
In 1942, Churchill and the British military implemented a ‘scorched earth’ approach in eastern Bengal out of fears of a Japanese invasion. This involved “a denial of rice” policy, the destruction of unmilled rice deemed ‘excess,’ and denying Indian officials’ requests to import wheat.
“I think as the war progresses, things become much, much more complicated. You’re not only dealing with repulsing an enemy and fighting for survival, you’re actually wrestling with a multitude of issues in a multitude of different theatres, and that is inevitably going to bring in imperial politics.
“Churchill himself talked about this, he made a speech after the Yalta Conference in February 1945, where he said that, at the beginning of the war, things were fairly simple and it might not be easy but if someone is coming across the ocean to kill you, you do everything to kill them first.”
Following the denial of rice there was a “boat denial” initiative wherein the British relocated or destroyed more than 45,000 boats and disrupted fishing and resource transportation across Bengal.
Ultimately an estimated 800,000-3.8 million people in Bengal passed away from starvation, malnutrition or diseases brought about by Britain’s approach to foreign policy.
“By the time you get to the end of the war, there are so many other imponderables that it becomes much more difficult, that also becomes much more difficult for film as well.
“I think as you go forward and as you see Churchill depictions in the future, the way he’s portrayed may change.”
