One Life (12A)

In December 1938, young London broker Nicholas Winton visits Prague as part of the British Committee for Refugees in Czechoslovakia. He witnesses the terrible plight of families who have fled the Nazis and with the aid of his mother, Nicky secures safe passage for 669 children to London before the borders close. Fifty years later, Nicky is haunted by the faces of those he couldn't save.

LondonNet Film Review

One Life (12A) Film Review from LondonNet

On February 28 1988, former London stockbroker Nicholas Winton sat attentively in the front row of the audience at a taping of the BBC consumer advice programme That’s Life! unaware he would be the shell-shocked star of that episode. He watched silently as presenter Esther Rantzen held up the morning’s edition of The Sunday Mirror containing a three-page feature about his incredible efforts to help over 600 refugee Jewish children escape 1939 Czechoslovakia on Kindertransport before the borders closed. Director James Hawes’s handsomely crafted period drama winds up to this emotional wallop with elan…

Based on Barbara Winton’s biography of her humanitarian father, One Life is a stirring tale of quiet heroism in the lengthening shadow of the Nazi war machine, which is elevated by a wonderfully understated yet emotionally devastating performance from Sir Anthony Hopkins. The two-time Oscar-winning Welsh actor’s exemplary portrayal of Winton builds to a knockout final act that had tears coursing uncontrollably down my face. In most respects, Hawes’s picture feels comfortably familiar, oscillating between events 50 years apart at a contemplative and pedestrian pace to match the energy of an unassuming hero, who positively influenced hundreds of young lives.

In December 1938, shortly after the signing of the Munich Agreement which permits Hitler to annexe the Sudetenland, Winton (Johnny Flynn) prepares to visit Prague as part of the British Committee for Refugees in Czechoslovakia. He witnesses the desperate plight of families who have fled the Nazis and realises they are in a race against time before Hitler closes Europe’s borders. Marshalling the support of colleagues Doreen Warinner (Romola Garai) and Trevor Chadwick (Alex Sharp) in Prague and his formidable mother Babette (Helena Bonham Carter) in London, Nicky seeks expedited paperwork for Kindertransport to secure safe passage for refugee Jewish children to Britain. He eventually rescues 669 youngsters.

Fifty years later in leafy Maidenhead, Nicky (now played by Hopkins) is haunted by the faces of those he could not save. Wife Babette (Lena Olin) urges him to lay ghosts to rest by discharging their home of box files stuffed with documents, photographs and paraphernalia from those turbulent years. Painful memories bubble to the surface until a live taping of That’s Life! presented by Rantzen (Samantha Spiro) supplants guilt with genuine surprise and boundless gratitude.

One Life is a polite and respectful tribute to a man reverentially nicknamed “the British Schindler”. Scriptwriters Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake adopt an unfussy, linear approach to storytelling within the two timeframes, crafting a powerhouse supporting role for Bonham Carter. Distressing scenes are infrequent and atrocities seldom manifest in graphic detail on screen. Despite Winton’s self-doubt, one man did make a difference in a world scarred by conflict.

– Sarah Lee