'One Life' shows the difference an ordinary man can make
Anthony Hopkins is quietly compelling in fact-based drama.
(Photo courtesy of Bleecker Street)
There are few things that sound less promising than a movie based on a viral video. But the video in question her is undeniably compelling – a clip from an ‘80s British talk show in which an elderly man, Nicholas Winton, is honored for his work saving Jewish children from the Nazis. When the host asks if anyone in the audience owes their life to Winton, he’s stunned as several dozen people stand up all around him.
There’s a lot of story to tell behind that clip, and “One Life” satisfyingly recounts Winton’s unlikely mission of mercy that saved 669 children. James Hawes’ film works in part because it takes Winton’s nature as its emotional cue – muted, reserved, but unwavering in its commitment to goodness and charity.
Winton is played in the 1980s by Anthony Hopkins, a retired stockbroker with a doting wife (Lena Olin) who devotes his retirement to helping others in the community. He hasn’t talked publicly about what he did during the war, in part because of his personal modesty, in part because of the pain of those memories. To think about the children he did save means thinking about all the ones he didn’t.
But in cleaning out his office and finding documents of the children, those memories get stirred up, and Winton wonders if it’s time to tell his story. Hopkins is very effective in the film’s quieter moments, holding our attention as Winton simply sits and thinks, memories roiling in his mind.
The bulk of “One Life” is flashbacks to a younger Winton (Johnny Flynn) in Prague in 1938, with the Nazis about to invade Czechoslovakia, desperately trying to arrange transport for Jewish children to England. While there are moments of suspense and dread, Hawes keeps the film grounded, focusing on the quiet, urgent efforts by Winton and his colleagues (Alex Sharp and Romola Garai) to arrange passports and passage before the Nazis close in.
Having seen Flynn play more flamboyant rock-star characters in films like “Emma.,” I was a little startled by how good he is at playing the drab, buttoned-down Winton. He’s the embodiment of the “ordinary man” who had the resources to help others, and did so. As he says simply in the film, “I’ve seen it. I can’t unsee it.”
Helena Bonham Carter has a more spirited role as Nicholas’ mother, Babi, who back home in London is cheerfully relentless in berating British government officials to allow the refugees in.
“One Life” culminates with a recreation of that video clip from “That’s Life,” and even if you’ve watched the original a dozen times on YouTube, it’s still enormously affecting because of the sensitivity and care of Hopkins’ performance.
Some might see inspirational stories like “One Life” as a too tidy way of addressing the horrors of the Holocaust, focusing on heroes rather than victims. But the film is also in its way a challenge to contemporary audiences in a troubled world. “Ordinary people wouldn’t stand for this if they knew what was actually happening,” a young Winton says at one point. “You have a lot of faith in ordinary people,” his friend answers.
“One Life” opens Friday in theaters. In Madison, it opens wide at Marcus Point, Marcus Palace and AMC Fitchburg 18.