Meet the man who saved most of these Jewish children before WWII.
I saw “One Life” at the Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) a few weeks ago, and it’s still is a poignant piece of filmmaking. One that tells the true story of how British stockbroker and humanitarian Nicholas “Nicky” Winton helped rescue Jewish children in Prague, just the Nazis were about to invade there in 1938. And it’s one that reminds us on what kindness can do, even in our darkest hours.
Anthony Hopkins plays the older Nicky, while the younger version is played by Johnny Flynn, and they both well-acted under the direction of James Hawes. It’s patient enough to let us digest on the dramatizations in the past and presents segments of the late 30s and 80s; and both sides represent the film’s very nature on kindness and perseverance, especially when evil threatens to take them away.
As the younger Nicky travels to the country, he sees that these kids are in poor living conditions with barely any food or shelter, and no money or visas to get them out of there. And so, despite various setbacks, he makes it his mission to save them.
His mother (Helena Bonham Carter) wants the boy to be careful in the country, but she’s able to help him get the money and visa for the children. And through it all, he begins a fundraiser to finish the mission. But there are those Jewish people who wonder why they should believe in him, since he is of German decent. Because he was born and raised in England.
And as we see Winton in his 70s in 1988, his wife Grete (Lena Olin) asks him to clean out his office. Whatever junk he doesn’t need. Eventually, he comes around and burns the papers. Except his recorded documents, which, after a meeting with his old friend Martin (Jonathan Pryce), he donates to a Holocaust Museum, while regretting that he couldn’t save all the children. But he’s assured that he saved all he could, and that he should be proud of what he has done.
“One Life” is a profoundly acted and important film about one man’s dedication to saving innocent children from certain doom. On both sides of the story, Hopkins and Flynn both deliver with the right tone and consistency to remind us on who this figure was and his impact on the Jewish community. Carter has her moments of heart and strength, while Pryce’s segment is well-paced.
Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake’s screenplay has a few bland areas, but most of it reflects on Winton’s spirit and his reaction about how many children he was able to save. It’s about kindness and heroism that can really change the course of history. And even if we know this true story has a happy ending, we’re still entertained by the direction and rooting for Winton to save those children.
And the final 20 minutes of the film packs an emotional punch, almost in the tradition of “Schindler’s List.” As we see this moment, we’re moved and uplifted, and it pays its respects to the real Nicky Winton, born in 1909 and died in 2015. And while I disliked Hopkins’ last three films (“Rebel Moon-Part One: A Child of Fire,” “Freud’s Last Session,” and “The Son”), I was marveled by “One Life.”