One Life

Director: James Hawes

Writers: Lucinda Coxon, Nick Drake

One Life tells the incredible story of Nicolas Winton, who finds in 1938 Prague the shocking reality of, mainly Jewish, families, displaced by the Nazi annexing of the Sudetenland. He finds them living in poverty and fear of their lives and is compelled to act. He does so by arranging the passage of over 600 children to England and safety. The story is told in two parts, young Winton (Jonny Flynn) in Prague, battling to arrange the transportation of 100’s of children to the UK. We also see an older Winton (Anthony Hopkins) looking back on his life, burdened by whether he could have done more, helped more, saved more lives. The film tells an important story of a remarkable man who never fully appreciates the lives he’s touched, until he finds it laid before him.

With stories as remarkable as this, sometimes they only need putting on screen to be engaging and interesting and One Life is an example of that. An unremarkable telling of a truly remarkable story.

The films unremarkable nature doesn’t really matter as the subject matter ensures the film always keeps your attention. However, it’s a bit formulaic and a lot of surface rather than depth. The story is full of characters who did incredible things, took huge risks, tackled bureaucracy and impacted thousands of lives, but it never really feels that it fully explores that. It is more successful looking at Winton’s later life, Anthony Hopkins portraying a humble man, carrying memories and guilt for those who couldn’t save. And the films touching climax is emotionally well delivered.

Flynn and Hopkins potray the two parts of Winton’s life well, they are well supported, particularly Helena Bonham Carter’s portrayal of Winton’s strong and driven mother. However, she is almost the only supporting character who gets much to do.

One Life is an unremarkable telling of a remarkable story and life. But the remarkable story makes this film absorbing and engaging and while it’s a predictable telling, it is still a story that deserved telling and is worth seeing.