One Life

When the world becomes engulfed in a world war, occasionally there are individuals that attempt to right wrongs more than the troops involved. We've seen "Schindler's List", "The Pianist" and the like and walk away with a feeling that there are decent people willing to risk there lives in helping others."One Life" is another one of those films where a civilian risks his life to help children find safety during WWII. 

The true story of Sir Nicholas "Nicky" Winton (Anthony Hopkins), who, when he was younger, was a London broker who, in the months leading up to WWII, rescued 669 predominantly Jewish children from the Nazis. Nicky visited Prague in December 1938 and found families who had fled the rise of the Nazis in Germany and Austria, living in desperate conditions with little or no shelter and food, and under threat of Nazi invasion. he immediately realized it was a race against time. How many children could he and the team, consisting of Doreen Warriner (Romola Garai), Martin Blake (Jonathan Pryce), Trevor Chadwick (Alex Sharp) and his mother, Babi Winton (Helena Bonham Carter), rescue, before the borders Closed? Fifty years later, it's 1988 and Nicky lives haunted by the face of the children he wasn't able to bring to safety in England;always blaming himself for not doing more. It's not until a live BBC television show, "That's Life", surprises him by introducing him to some surviving children--now adults--that he finally begins to come to terms with the guilt and grief he had carried for five decades. 

Others to round out the cast are Johnny Flynn as young Nicky Winton, Lena Olin as Grete Winton, his present wife, Daniel Brown as Frank, Matilda Thorpe as Nina, Jiri Simek as Rudi and Martin Bednar as Vaclav Slonek. 

This was directed with such soberness and sincerity by James Hawes ("The Earth in Balance" (TV movie) '90, "A Line in the Sand" (TV movie) '04, "The Lift" (TV movie) '07, "The 39 Steps" (TV movie) '08, "Pulse" (TV movie) '10, "The Challenger Disaster" (TV movie) '13) plus TV and other TV movies. This filmmaker has learned a tremendous amount by honing his skills in the TV realm, whether shows or movies, so this, being his first feature film, worked amazingly well due to his experience otherwise. He was truly able to showcase Winton's humble character development in spades through the incomparable Anthony Hopkins. And the supporting cast worked effortlessly off of Hopkins which is definitively fine directing. It was written incredibly well by Lucinda Coxon ("Messaggi: quasi segreti" '96, "The Heart of Me" '02, "Wild Target" '10, "The Danish Girl" '15, "The Little Stranger" '18, "Herding Cats" '21) plus TV and a short, and Nick Drake ("Romulus, My Father" '07, "Making Noise Quietly" '19), based on the book by Barbara Winton. This story starts in the present, 1987, and goes back to 1938--pre WWII when Winton is a young man with this passion to save desperate children. Then the story edits back to present again and alternates throughout the story. With the to and fro from present to past and back again, the sequencing, staging and pacing in this was impeccable. The fluidity of this script was spot on, and it is easy for a script that goes back and forth as this did and become convoluted, but this held its own easily. And, of course, Hopkins was awesome in the role of 'present day' Winton, as was the supporting cast. 

If you like films like "Schindler's List" or "The Pianist", you'll love this film. Its sad, heartwarming, sobering, and redemptive. Take note: you might want to bring a half a box of tissue with you to the multiplex for it will assuredly pull your heartstrings. 

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                   Rated: PG                                           109mins.