One Life
British stockbroker Nicholas Winton visits Czechoslovakia in the 1930s and forms plans to assist in the rescue of Jewish children before the onset of World War II, in an operation that came to be known as the Kindertransport.
- Released:
- Runtime: 110 minutes
- Genre: Drama, History, War
- Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter, Jonathan Pryce, Romola Garai, Lena Olin, Samantha Spiro, Adrian Rawlins, Marthe Keller, Ziggy Heath, Tom Glenister, Tim Steed, Samuel Finzi, Matilda Thorpe, Ffion Jolly, Alex Sharp, Johnny Flynn
- Director: James Hawes
Comments
- Anurag-Shetty - 26 June 2024
A poignant biopic.
One Life tells the true story of Nicholas 'Nicky' Winton(Anthony Hopkins). Young Nicky Winton(Johnny Flynn) was a broker in London for quite a while, before World War II began. During this time, Nicky rescued more than 600 children from Czechoslovakia, which was a Nazi stronghold.
One Life is an awe-inspiring film. Director James Hawes has given us a movie, that perfectly recreates the true events of Nicky Winton's incredible rescue of countless children. There are several heartwarming scenes, that will make you tear up. Anthony Hopkins is mind-blowing as Nicky Winton. Hopkins flawlessly portrays a variety of emotions that his character goes through, with ease & panache. Johnny Flynn is spectacular as Young Nicky Winton. Helena Bonham Carter is phenomenal as Babi Winton. The supporting cast is brilliant. One Life is a must watch, to marvel at the tale of real-life superhero Nicky Winton. - Lejink - 21 April 2024
Freedom Train
My wife and I recently visited the Schindler Museum and Jewish Quarter while on a visit to Krakow with both of us having an abiding interest in the Holocaust. This heart-warming movie is about the man dubbed the "British Schindler" with Anthony Hopkins playing the title role as a young London stockbroker who, when he learns that the then British government of Neville Chamberlain, in seeking to appease Hitler, has waived through his plans to reclaim for Germany the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. Knowing full well the implications of this, in particular for the Jewish population, the young Winton, played by Johnny Flynn, takes leave of absence from his job to aid the refugee effort on the ground by traveling to Prague. He's immediately struck by the obvious plight of the many young children there and comes up with a plan to take them out of the inevitable harm's way to resettle as many of them as possible in Britain, putting them with willing temporary foster-parents on a hopefully temporary basis until they can be repatriated again.
To do this he's helped immeasurably on the ground by existing relief workers Toby Chadwick and Diane Warriner played by Alex Sharp and Romola Garai and at home by his formidable mother Babette, played by Helena Bonham-Carter who does her considerable thing in spreading the word and convincing Government officials to obtain the visas and permits to allow the children to travel. Of course, when Hitler later invades Poland and triggers World War 2, the Nazis toughen up their attitude to the Jews in particular with obvious implications for the escaping children and the brave individuals helping them in this.
This remarkable story didn't fully come to light until the late 80's when the now retired Mr. Winton, seeking to find a home for the memorabilia he's hoarded on the project ever since, puts his scrapbook in the hands of the wife of the now-disgraced millionaire press-baron Robert Maxwell which snowballs into an emotional appearance by Winton on the popular BBC consumer affairs TV programme "That's Life" presented by Esther Rantzen, in a moment which will likely recall that at the end of "Schindler's List".
Mr Winton, a naturally modest man who never publicised the story, is played with gravitas by Sir Anthony Hopkins. He is well supported in particular by Flynn as his determinedly idealistic younger self, Bonham-Carter as his mother who likewise takes no prisoners in bending senior civil servants to her will and Garai as Warriner, a real tough-cookie, pragmatic foot-soldier operating in the actual danger zone.
The movie, as it makes clear in a note over the end-titles, of course has universal relevance considering the various humanitarian crises displacing millions in different parts of the world today. Whilst it may lack the emotional heft of Spielberg's masterpiece, it nevertheless unfussily and persuasively relates a story we're all the better for knowing about. - FlashCallahan - 9 April 2024
A beautiful, gentle film about atrocity.....
The true story of Sir Nicholas 'Nicky' Winton, a young London broker who, in the months leading up to World War II, 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 realised it was a race against time. How many children could he and the team rescue before the borders closed?.....
When will Hopkins retire? I mean, I don't want him to, but it seems that every film that he makes now could be his last, and I'm always hoping that the remainder of his films will be as good as this. I didn't think that he could top 'The Father', and whilst this film doesn't top that, it sits proudly side by side with it.
Hopkins is on fire as the protagonist, regularly harking back to his past because his younger self is Johnny Flynn. After he receives recognition for his heroics, he becomes the talk of the town, something I feel that he didn't want to be.
He is invited to be a guest on the BBC magazine programme 'That's Life', and if you remember that show, you will know that it was an awful exploitation piece that suckered Sunday evening viewers into thinking that it was fun. It was not, it was a tasteless piece of trash that has a guy called Doc showing pictures of carrots that looked like they had members, and the most infuriating piece ever, the host Esther Ratface, shaking hands too meant times with a man with AIDS after he had been assaulted, showing viewers that you couldn't get the illness from shaking hands. It was despicable.
But the one thing that they did right was to celebrate Winton with what he did, and in the most moving part of the film, he unbeknown to him, has a lot of the people he rescued, sitting right next to him in the audience.
It's a truly remarkable film, and Hopkins is as glorious as ever.
Such a remarkable film.
Sorry about the rant.
