Movie review «One Life»

On May 30, cinemas began showing the biographical drama «One Life», which tells the story of British philanthropist Nicholas Winton. On the eve of World War II, he tried to save Jewish children from German-occupied Czechoslovakia. The screenplay is based on the book «If It’s Not Impossible… The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton» written by the protagonist’s daughter Barbara Winton. In the review below, we tell you what an outstanding movie this local story is and why you should definitely watch this movie.

«One life»

Genre biographical drama
Director James Hawes
Starring Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Helena Bonham Carter, Lena Olin, Jonathan Price, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Samantha Spiro
Premiere movie theaters
Year of issue 2023
Website IMDb

In 1938, a few weeks after the signing of the Munich Agreement, Nicholas Winton, an ordinary stockbroker from England, was determined to travel to Czechoslovakia and join the British Refugee Committee. When he arrives in Prague, he discovers the terrible living conditions of families, including Jewish families, who were forced to flee the Nazis.

Unwilling to accept such a terrible state of affairs, and in order to save the cold and hungry children from the inevitable Nazi invasion, Winton and his associates try to organize their transportation to the UK. But the heroes face a huge number of obstacles, from the damned bureaucracy to the catastrophic lack of resources.

But we shouldn’t forget that James Hawes —, the director of most television projects, is clearly not Steven Spielberg, so his film is far from Spielberg’s monumentalism and powerful immersion in the tragedy of the Holocaust. However, this does not mean that «One Life» is not worth watching. On the contrary, despite the certain modesty of the production, this biographical drama has a lot to offer to an indifferent viewer.

And this might not even have happened: the world learned about the British heroism only many years after the war ended, in 1988, when the BBC television show That’s Life! invited Winton to its studio (the recordings of the episode can be found watch on YouTube). It was only later that he received various honors such as knighthoods from Queen Elizabeth II or the Order of the White Lion, the highest state award in the Czech Republic.«One Life» is appropriately divided into two time periods — the turbulent and pre-apocalyptic late 1930s, when the world was on the brink of World War II; and the leisurely late 1980s, when Winton, already old but still full of energy, decides to share with the world the most intimate thing he has — an album with information about the transported children. It also contains empty pages, which became a bitter reminder that circumstances did not allow the hero to fulfill the mission to the extent he had planned.

Obviously, it was impossible to squeeze all the important events that took place in real life into the short 100 minutes of running time (not including the end credits). Not only the suspense, but also the drama of the timeline that preceded the war suffers significantly from this factor. The authors of the film go more and more to the top, not diving too deeply into the many nuances of the noble cause. However, it is certain that they did not set themselves such a task.

And that’s why it seems so appropriate to have the presence of the unsurpassed Anthony Hopkins, who is able to evoke the audience’s empathy long before the climactic, most emotional scenes. His character already has a solid background, as we know how great a deed he has accomplished. But Sir Anthony, a truly outstanding actor, gives the personality of the on-screen Sir Nicholas a distinct charm, a pleasant sense of humor and the depth of a caring man who is not afraid to shed a man’s tear. There is a risk that the audience will follow his example.

Unfortunately, the other actors simply don’t have enough time to prove themselves: the young 29-year-old Winton, played by Johnny Flynn, is not particularly memorable, and Helena Bonham Carter, who is not the first time she has played in a Hawes project, has only one worthwhile dialogue in the entire film.