Lee Miller

Have just got home from watching "LEE" at my local Picture House.

Blimey, that was DARK. Well, it isn't all dark, but by the time you get to the last half hour... oooft. Let's just say that "feelgood" isn't a term anyone's ever going to apply to this one.

It's not like I went in unprepared: I'd seen Kate Winslet doing the promotional chat show appearances, and as I am already a great admirer of Lee Miller's photojournalism, I knew the kind of subject matter we'd inevitably be exploring, but still... don't say you haven't been warned. This film presents you with you the hideous fact of Nazi genocide, very convincingly as the revelation it must have been in the moment, without (thankfully) a scrap of sentimentality.

Winslet is magnificent in the title role - as is everyone else, to be honest: there are no shoddy performances to be found - and, speaking as a Rolleiflex TLR user myself, it was clear that she had done her homework viz how to wield that lovely machine convincingly. There were moments when the nit-picky photography pedant in me did query whether some of the interior photos were being taken in such low light that it was unlikely to have left any usable impression on the relatively slow film stock available in the 1940s, but let's not quibble!

It's quite a long movie and events are presented in a simple, linear fashion (via a series of chronological flashbacks) with rather uniform pacing throughout - personally, I would have preferred a bit more variation in pace; your taste may differ.

My only really negative criticism has to do with one, frankly bizarre, piece of casting. The role of Englishman Roland Penrose is given to Swedish star Alexander Skarsgård - whose plucky attempt at an English accent is ...I think "variable" is the kindest word for it. It was hard to tell what part of England he was supposed to be from, or indeed what social class, and there were several moments when he didn't sound any kind of English at all. I had to suspend my disbelief on some pretty strong elastic whenever he opened his mouth. Ah well... go figure!

"Lee" accomplishes its vision: To tell the truth of Lee Miller, and thus tell the truth of the life, pain, joy, & death, embedded in her photographs. The way the audience gets to see everything through Kate Winslet's eyes as she uses every single eye movement, mouth/lip wrinkle, breath, more. Love that the film doesn't have to show the already-known shocking scenes, but WE CAN SEE THEM just by looking at them through Kate's gaze. This makes the film so powerful. Lee is not about the war. It's about a beautiful woman who is also intelligent, genuine, and daring (thus Kate is perfectly cast as Lee Miller). The IMMEASURABLE challenges she faced to seek the truth, then tell the truth by recording these images.

The well-known bathtub scene is magical. The careful anticipatory build-up to one of the most iconic images is worth the price alone. The film manages to include some conviviality, as if giving the audience a needed brief respite during this historical moment. Brilliant.

The effectiveness of 2 door slams. There is also some funny "drunk acting" that brings some levity to some of the most horrific circumstances from WWII.

I've seen this film 4 times at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival): 2 public screenings and 2 press & industry screenings, from 4 different spots in the theatre, on purpose. Discovered new important details & distinctions each time.

Greetings again from the darkness. Being courageous and heroic doesn't mean one must wear a cape and possess super powers. In fact, some of the most courageous folks use their words (spoken and written), their feet (for marching into battle), and as we learn here, even their eyes. Lee Miller is a famous photojournalist who used her words to get to the front lines of WWII, her feet to march with soldiers, and her eyes to decide where to focus her camera. The film is based on the biography, "The Lives of Lee Miller", by her son Antony Penrose. It's directed by renowned choreographer Ellen Kuras (her feature film directorial debut) and co-written by Liz Hannah, Marion Hume, John Collee, and Lem Dobbs.

Oscar winner Kate Winslet stars as Lee Miller, and her fierce and committed performance validates what a passion project this was for her, and just how hard she worked to bring the project to fruition. Lee Miller was a well-known fashion model, and we see her hanging out with her band of artistic friends in pre-war France. It's here where she first meets Roland Penrose (Alexander Skarsgard), and their initial intellectual bantering leads right to the bedroom. This after we hear Ms. Miller proclaim that she had ever only been good at drinking, having sex, and taking pictures. She speaks this line in 1977 while being interviewed (by Josh O'Connor, CHALLENGERS, 2024) about her life. It's this interview that provides some structure to the film, while confirming that drinking and smoking were hobbies until the end.

It's really Lee's photographs that guide us through each phase. She and Roland relocate to London during the war, and soon enough she's taking pictures under the guidance of British Vogue editor Audrey Withers (Andrea Riseborough). Continually having to stand up for herself after being rebuked for being a woman doing a man's job, Lee partners with (and ultimately befriends) Life magazine photographer David E Scherman (a surprisingly effective Andy Samberg). Their work documenting history becomes historic in itself. After hearing about the "missing", they were the first journalists to document Dachau concentration camp and the tragic prisoner trains.

Although British Vogue refused to publish the photographs as being too "disturbing", the U. S. magazine did publish, creating awareness of the atrocities. The segment that leads to the infamous photo of Lee bathing in Hitler's tubs is handled expertly. If there is a flaw in the film, it's that we never really get to know Lee's friends, so as she re-connects with Solange (Oscar winner Marion Cotillard), their meeting doesn't hit as hard as it should. Still, the cinematography from Pawel Edelman and the accomplished performance by Kate Winslet, do justice to the stunning (actual) photographs shown. There is a dramatized twist near the film's end that pays homage to Lee and her story. An early comment about Hitler is all too relevant today, and the battle scenes and photographs reinforce what courage Lee Miller exhibited.

Opens in theaters on September 27, 2024.

I've seen a few review that seem quite dismissive about the scope and importance of Lee. But if you know about the limited freedom of women during this time period you will totally appreciate the audacity and productivity delivered here. Lee was spurned on by personal trauma to do good with her hard fought freedom to operate in a man's world.

Lee has all the period clothing and historical accuracy which is no small feat, while showing the sheer determination it took to achieve access to the final Nazi front of WW2. People back home in the US didn't believe exactly the horrors and certainly not the numbers of the Holocaust. It was the undeniable courageous journey by Lee which brought back the unmistakeable proof and witness of an evil place in history

Knowing that one can't unsee certain such things in person gives one empathy for the cost of doing photo journalism. Many get martyred while doing their work when jailed or taken hostage in authoritarian regimes. But in this case, to have survived seems as permanently affecting a way to finish such an important task.

Giving this an 7.5/10 rating

A very and honest as you can get biopic drama of Lee Miller, famous photographer from the 1930's and through out the second world war, showed the world the horrors in the world during her time. Played by, Kate Winslet, this is very much her film, and rightly so. Again, more fine work from an actor who still can pull your attention and works hard at it. Alexander Skarsgård and Andy Samberg are the backup who just as superb in this really near top notch movie.

Ellen Kuras directs us through pretty much a hellish world with touches of light and happiness, which are few, and proper, given the subject matter, and it is eerily lovely looking and tough too. Writers Liz Hannah, Marion Hume and John Collee give us a solid script and story, given how nasty the world was in, as Andrea Riseborough and Marion Cotillard also, pull out the stops in the acting, and look real rough, only Josh O'Connor is the clean person here.

The film could of been a bit more edger and stronger, but then it would of been very graphic and a higher rating, alienating more of he audience, who need to see this film. A good bit of cinema, and with what is out there, it shines and is never, never boring.