2023 - ONE LIFE, a true but boring story

The inspirational true story of a man named Nicholas Winton.  Winton was a stockbroker in England just before World War II broke out.  He traveled to Czechoslovakia to help with the relocation of mostly Jewish children before the Nazi's attacked.  Working with a group of aid workers he was able to relocate over 600 children to England.  This is a moving story however this is not a good movie.

A dull and very plodding film.  The storytelling is strictly from the made for TV school of film making.  I suppose you could call it a "Lifetime" film made for the big screen.  I've seen this story before.  Richard Chamberlain did a version of a rescue story called Wallenberg: A Hero's Story  which was about a Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during World War II and of course there's Schindler's List one of Spielberg's best films.  Not to make light of Winton's accomplishments but he was hardly the only person attempting to make a difference.

 

It's difficult to describe how such and underwhelming film could be made about Winton's life. He appears to be a genuinely good man. The film just doesn't seem to be able to explain what motivated him to save these children.  Winton's accomplishment's were generally unknown until he appeared on a crummy British reality show called "That's Life" which basically used his story for filler on one of their TV shows.  The film really doesn't make it very clear that Winton even at the age of seventy nine was still trying to bring attention to the plight of refugees fifty years later.  

 

What the film has going for it is a good cast with Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn playing the older and younger versions of Winton.  Helena Bonham Carter is good as the young Winton's mother who was also instrumental in getting the children out of Prague.  Lena Olin, Marthe Keller and Jonathan Pryce (in a very small role) are also excellent.  I hate to be so critical of this well meaning film but Winton's story really needed a better storyteller.  There's a reason Steven Spielberg's Schilndler's List is one of the best films on the subject of the Holocaust, he is a very skilled filmmaker and had a great passion for this story.

The film was written by Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake, the running time is 110 minutes.