The Gathering Storm (2002) Albert Finney Winston Churchill Vanessa Redgrave Clemmie Churchill Jim Broadbent Desmond Morton Linus Roache Ralph Wigram Lena Headey Ava Wigram Derek Jacobi Stanley Baldwin Ronnie Barker David Inches Tom Wilkinson Sir Robert Vansittart Celia Imrie Violet Pearman Hugh Bonneville Ivo Pettifer Gottfried John Friedrich von Schroder Anthony Brophy Brendan Bracken Edward Hardwicke Mr. Wood Directed by: Richard Loncraine Produced by: Julie Payne, Tracey Scoffield, Ridley Scott Albert Finney offers an excellent presentation of Winston Churchill in the years immediately before World War II. Facing a rising Nazi Germany, most of the British Parliament chooses to look the other way in hopes of peace. Parliament even votes to send Germany airplane engines. Against the wisdom of the other party members, Churchill preaches against the Nazi threat. But the aspect of the film that makes the story a standout is the personal relationship and love he had with his wife, Clementine. Churchill's arrogance strains his family and personal relationships, including his wife. When she announces she wants to go on a trip, Churchill accuses her of being selfish, which ignites her. She goes on the trip, leaving Churchill with the worry that she will not return or has started a shipboard romance with an art dealer. Eventually she does return and Churchill welcomes her with the same passion he has for his politics. ========== A love story offering an intimate look inside the marriage of Winston and Clementine Churchill during a particularly troubled, though little-known, moment in their lives. In the years before World War II, Churchill found himself on the fringe of British politics: a lone voice in crying out in the wilderness as he warned his country and the world of a Nazi threat. Together with Clementine, he had to confront the personal demons of depression, and the specter of insolvency, before he could reemerge as a reinvigorated political leader and hero.