Munich: Edge of War changed Neville Chamberlain

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, often overshadowed by his wartime successor Winston Churchill, is getting a rebrand thanks to releasing a new film and his incarnation as Oscar-winning actor Jeremy Irons.

Munich: The End of War is an adaptation of Robert Harris' best-selling book Munich, the story of Chamberlain's attempt to avoid war with Hitler in 1938 when the Nazi dictator prepares to go to former Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic and Slovakia to attack.

"Chamberlain goes down in history as quite defamatory," said Irons.

The British Prime Minister was photographed waving an agreement with Hitler after the Munich Conference in 1938, during which he proclaimed "Peace for our time." Chamberlain said at the time that failure to prevent war was a bitter personal blow and that he didn't think he could have done more.

"I'd love to see the story re-evaluated by a writer as profound and intellectual as Robert, who did the research," said Irons. "Our opinion of Chamberlain may be inappropriate, and I'm glad it was filmed. It seems like a timely re-evaluation of time and people."

The actor often plays Chamberlain in television shows and films with Winston Churchill as Into the Storm, with Brendan Gleeson (and Jack Shepard as Chamberlain), a 2009 film about Churchill's days in World War II.

Ronald Pickup most recently played Chamberlain in The Darkest Hour of 2017, which won an Oscar for Gary Oldman for his role as Churchill, a politician who warns of Adolf Hitler's threat to the world.

Harris's portrayal of Chamberlain is an honest politician who was well aware of Hitler's intentions. However, the document he waved at was a private agreement signed by Hitler and Chamberlain expressing a mutual desire not to go to war again.

"That piece of paper is a trap," Harris said.

Chamberlain said it was a signal to travel; he hoped that Hitler would keep his promise, but if he didn't, there would be an agreement that Hitler had broken to deal with Hitler, but he was right to try, and he didn't. As naive in the way he does.

"His diplomacy gave England time to rearm, and that is Chamberlain's great legacy to his country. I think it was first reflected on the screen, either on TV or in movies."

The director is German director Christian Schwoch, who also directed several episodes of The Crown's TV series.