One Life

"One Life" is a biographical drama film based on the non-fiction book "If It's Not Impossible... The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton" by Barbara Winton. Directed by James Hawes and starring Anthony Hopkins in the lead role, it is a simple human interest story that carries itself as humbly as its lead subject.

In 1938, British stockbroker Nicholas "Nicky" Winton (Anthony Hopkins) visits Czechoslovakia to assist with matters regarding the Jewish population. While there, Nicky works hard to rescue large numbers of children to be transported back to England before the Nazis can have them sent to concentration camps. Throughout the rest of his life, Nicky is encouraged by his family to make his deeds known to the public, but he instead chooses to keep them to himself. In 1988, Nicky's wife discovers a scrapbook in their attic detailing all of the children and their families he helped save, and subsequently sends it to the media. As a result of this, Nicky's heroism receives wider acknowledgment, but is he prepared for all the attention he could garner from this?

Thanks to the efforts of one man in particular, there are over 6,000 people in the world who are alive today because of his actions. That man in question is Nicholas Winton, a stockbroker who risked his life to rescue 669 children from becoming victims of the Holocaust, earning him the nickname "The British Schindler". However, it wasn't until half a century later that Nicholas's humanitarian work was made known to the public, when the media caught wind of his good deeds and reached out to the children and the relatives of those he saved. In the 2023 film "One Life", we are presented with a straightforward, respectful look at Nicholas's life in a way I am sure he would most likely approve.

The film is presented to us in a fairly conventional manner, which is fine as this can be seen as a reflection of Nicholas himself, who was a relatively humble man. When we are first introduced to Nicholas, he is an elderly man in the late 1980s sifting through papers he chooses to keep hidden away from his family. Immediately afterwards, the film flashes back to 1938 where we see a twenty-something Nicholas arriving in Czechoslovakia to undertake work among the local Jewish community. It is here that Nicholas meets some of the Jewish children, with whom he forms a friendly, albeit brief bond with when he shares his chocolate bar with a select few. From here, Nicholas becomes inspired to focus his efforts on helping these children, even if it comes at the risk of attracting attention from the advancing Nazi threat.

James Hawes's direction is effective at conveying Nicholas's emotional state whenever the film needs to showcase it. For instance, in one scene where we see Nicholas browsing through his scrapbook, all of the photographs and descriptions of the children are seen reflected in his glasses. The camera then zooms in on his face to show how much emotion he is filled with as he recollects all of the youths he saved and, rather tragically, the ones he could not. We see how conflicted Nicholas is in his reminiscing, as while it is true he managed to rescue so many children, he cannot escape the guilt of the ones who were far less fortunate. I was pleased to see that the film tackled this angle to Nicholas as a person as it would have been easy to only examine the positive aspects of his deeds while completely disregarding the negative. The fact of the matter is that Nicholas has always had to deal with this emotional burden, and making it public knowledge may not be what he needs to overcome his feelings of self-doubt.

As the lead character, Anthony Hopkins once again proves that he's one of the best actors currently working today as he perfectly depicts the elderly Nicholas throughout all of his emotional states. Most of the time, it isn't through Hopkins's line delivery or his reaction to things, but through his body language that helps his performance leave the most impression. Aside from the aforementioned scene with the scrapbook, I also really liked this one part where Nicholas is sitting quietly in a chair by his pool overcome with the emotion of reminiscing about what he did fifty years earlier. Here, he simply sits there staring off into the distance fighting back tears until his wife arrives to comfort him. In the hands of a lesser actor, this scene may have been forgettable but Hopkins shows his ability to act using his body rather than simply through words during this scene, which gives a moment like this considerably more impact than it should.

However, this is clearly a one man show, and while that does make sense in the long run, it seems like kind of a waste to include all these other notable actors and do very little with them. Helena Bonham Carter plays the young Nicholas's mother, who essentially taught him the selfless value of doing good deeds for the sake of others. Unfortunately, she is only in the film for about five minutes and these are exclusively during the flashback scenes. Similarly, Jonathan Pryce appears as the older version of one of the people whom Nicholas worked with to rescue the children. His screen time is even less than Carter's and didn't really add anything particularly important to the film. Regardless, I still appreciate that all of these actors each wanted to be part of a film that helps preserve the legacy of someone important like Nicholas Winton.

Although the film can hardly be considered groundbreaking from a creative viewpoint, "One Life" still has moments of poignancy that are well worth your time. The subject matter alone warrants at least one viewing, as it is rare to hear about such great deeds being enacted by an uncommonly humble individual. In a world full of fake charitable people who only do nice deeds to stroke their egos, it's refreshing to know that there are people out there like Nicholas Winton who choose to do the right thing out of the kindness of their hearts. The world definitely needs more people like that, and if you can't find someone like that, be someone like that.

I rate it 8/10.

All One Life has to do to honour its true story is tell it with care and competency and that's exactly what it does. This is a deeply affecting story of selfless people who did everything they could to save as many people as possible whilst others just ignored what was going on.

Anthony Hopkins is on terrific form here. He embodies the selflessness effortlessly and brings a heartbreaking sense of defeat, focusing on what he could've done rather than what he achieved. He's also one of the rare actors who can make you cry by bringing on the waterworks, when he cries you cry.

In the flashbacks Johnny Flynn is an extremely convincing younger version of Hopkins with that same desire to always do more. Helena Bonham Carter gets a loveable role supporting Flynn with a stern determination and refusal to take no for an answer.

James Hawes directs with a level of technical competency that's designed to go unnoticed. The production value is reminiscent of a high end BBC production, which is obviously very fitting and the pacing is really strong. Undoubtedly helped by spending the majority of the time in the flashbacks which are rife with tension.

I've been on a bit of a spree of Jewish themed films of late, trying to inject a bit of hope in between the inevitable darkness. Going from Shoah to Yentl and The Zone of Interest to One Life, which I think will likely bridge the horror with some lasting positivity... hopefully. I say this, as like many, I'm aware of Nicolas Winton from his appearance on That's Life! A stunning piece of television that will stick with anyone who remembers it being broadcast. I was very young though and I'm sure there's more to the story than I recall. Winton was a man who saw what the Nazis were up to, whilst many were covering their eyes and was moved to do something. That something was the Kindertransport or more accurately an extension of it. One Life is based on his true story and it doesn't shy on the details. We first meet an older Nicolas (Anthony Hopkins), doddering perhaps, slowing down a little but still motivated to help. Haunted by his past. You don't unsee the things he's seen. As he stares into a darkened window, we drift back to the 30s, where he's played by Johnny Flynn, trying to convince his mother (Helena Bonham Carter) that it's a good idea for him to travel to Czechoslovakia to help the refugees from the advancing Nazis. Flynn not only portrays Winton magnificently, he also feels perfectly in step with Hopkins. He's a bit of a chameleon. Nicolas though isn't on the surface. He's a well to do stockbroker. A desk man. Head in paperwork type. The harsh Prague winter is not what he was prepared for, but he learns quickly that without help, these displaced people have been forgotten by the system. The British government is not helping Czechoslovakians. When Nicolas is quizzed as to his motives, what skin he has in the game. His response is gripping. Heartfelt, unwavering, determined and spine tingling. The scenes of people saying goodbye at train stations, children with numbers on cardboard around their necks are intercut with the bureaucracy that Nicolas, friends and his mother navigate with steely determination as a score of thick string and piano laden melancholy fills the score. It's this drive/melancholy that defines Nicolas. The drive is his nature, the melancholy what he's left with when there's time think. It's this time that dictates older Nicolas's life. He realises there's sadly still a lesson to be learnt. This timeline isn't perhaps as fraught and terrifying, but it's what lead to that TV moment, this film and Anthony Hopkins reducing me to tears. The pace is kept up by jumping between Hopkins and Flynn in the eras of his life, where although some things have changed, the focus hasn't. It's not an easy watch, amazing as it is what they're doing, as Babi Winton (Bonham Carter) says "Nicky, you must know you can't save them all". What a world we live in. Where this happened and still the danger persists. Thank god for people like Nicolas Winton. A magnificent story brought about by the evil that people are capable of.

The story of Nicholas Winton, who saved hundreds of children from the Nazis just before the start of WW2 by organising trains from Czechoslovakia to the UK, is very much a story worth telling, especially as he was essentially a modest hero, one who didn't even think he deserved recognition, which makes his story all the more moving as it unfolds in flashback from late 70s Britain as Winton, superbly portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, remembers the events of the late 1930s.

Of course, there have been so many WW2 dramas over the years, so I felt the pre-war scenes do somewhat lack tension and a certain freshness, but good direction and succinct writing do calmly and absorbingly set the scene, explaining those earlier events well, but we also follow the way that 40 years later the heroic efforts of Winton and his colleagues were finally revealed and celebrated, ultimately making it a truly moving and revealing film. Perhaps, considering how things look today, it's also a reminder of how good really can triumph over evil and cynicism, and it's finally a superb tribute to a remarkable man.

The true story of Sir Nicholas Winton, who was responsible for evacuating over 600 children from Czechoslovakia, which was on the verge of Nazi invasion.

This is a truly outstanding film, one of the best I've seen in a while, for my shame I had no idea if Nicholas Winton's story until this film, it promoted me to dig deeper, what a fascinating, brave man.

Beautifully produced, and not just the visuals, of course it looked amazing, but the tone and feel of the movie was perfect. At times I honestly felt like I was watching something by Stephen Poliakoff, someone who truly does know how to move the viewers.

BBC films, proof that The BBC still has the ability to deliver incredible quality, when it focuses on actual storytelling, this was like something made from yesteryear.

Sir Anthony Hopkins delivers yet another masterclass, his scenes at the That's Life studio were incredible, Hopkins was matched by an equally captivating performance from Johnny Flynn, fabulous.

Intensely moving, I saw many tears at the cinema, a very powerful story, a true act of selfless bravery.

Wonderful.

10/10.