Movie Review: One Life

One Life
Writers: Lucinda Coxon, Nick Drake, and Barbara Winton
Director: James Hawes
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Lena Olin, and Johnny Flynn
Publisher: BBC Film, Warner Bros. Pictures
Genre: Nonfiction, Historical
Rating: 5 Stars (10 Stars on IMDB)
Reviewed by Astilbe

Sir Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Winton, a young London broker who, in the months leading up to World War II, rescued over 600 children from Nazi-occupied Czechia (then called Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia).

How a society treats refugees is of utmost importance.

The dual storyline worked really nicely, especially later on as Sir Nicholas Winton began to open up about what he was doing at the beginning of World War II as Jewish people were being demonized by the Nazis and helping them required taking great personal risks. I knew only a few basic facts about the trains filled with children that were evacuated from German-occupied Czechoslovakia back then, and I was eager to learn more about how those rescue missions worked and what might have happened to the kids who were sent to England for safety during that war.

One of my favorite things about this film was how much attention it paid to the men and women who worked alongside Sir Winton to save 669 predominantly Jewish children from near certain death. He couldn’t have done such a massive job alone even if it was originally his idea due to the many hours of work involved in every case, so I was glad to see so much teamwork being portrayed as they all raised funds, arranged transportation, found foster families, and otherwise spread the word about this humanitarian crisis.

I loved the complex portrayal of the protagonist, especially in the scenes set in the 1980s as he reflected on both his successes as well as what he considered his failures to be. Other viewers should discover for themselves exactly what he regretted, but seeing how hard he was on himself only made me like him even more. He was a kind and gentle man who struggled to accept the term hero despite all that he had accomplished on what honestly appeared to be a shoestring budget and a schedule that never left enough time for all he wanted to do.

One Life was a beautiful and sobering snapshot of a critical mission and the man who made it happen.