Sometimes a film comes along that is based on a true story and One Life is one of those films, it’s an emotional story Starring Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Flynn.
ONE LIFE tells the true story of Sir Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Winton (Anthony Hopkins), a young London broker who, in the months leading up to World War II, rescued 669 predominantly Jewish children from the Nazis. Nicky visited Prague in December 1938 and found families who had fled the rise of the Nazis in Germany and Austria, living in desperate conditions with little or no shelter and food, and under threat of Nazi invasion. He immediately realised it was a race against time.
How many children could he and the team rescue before the borders closed? Fifty years later, it’s 1988 and Nicky lives haunted by the fate of the children he wasn’t able to bring to safety in England; always blaming himself for not doing more. It’s not until a live BBC television show, ‘That’s Life’, surprises him by introducing him to some surviving children – now adults – that he finally begins to come to terms with the guilt and grief he had carried for five decades.
I vaguely remember the episode of That’s Life back when I was a youngster and after watching One Life it brought back the memories of the TV show I used to watch. The film takes us on a rather emotional journey back and forth to World War II and the challenges that “Nicky” had trying to get all the children to safety by bringing them to Britain and having them fostered out to caring families to save their lives.
Johnny Flynn plays the role of the young “Nicky” when the film returns to World War II as we follow him from his London job that he puts to one side to travel to Prague to do his best to try and save lives, but there are so many hurdles he has to jump to be able to succeed. All the red tape that he faced could have been the end to what he was trying to do, but he persevered and despite the challenges he did what he had to do with the help of his mother (Helena Bonham Carter) and a team of people with so much hope.
Sir Nicholas Winton rescued 669 predominantly Jewish children from the Nazis. But in 1988 he was haunted by the fate of the children he wasn’t able to bring to safety in England; always blaming himself for not doing more.
One Life is a very emotional film to watch but that only goes to show what Winton’s quest was, I found myself sniffing away a few tears towards the end of the film, so make sure you take some tissues with you as you may just need them.
The cast in the film is great and I can never fault Anthony Hopkins, although every time I see him in a film now all I can think of is the superb film The Father which was a film that had me crying like a baby. Helena Bonham Carter is lovely to watch as Nicky’s mother and Johnny Flynn certainly plays the part of young Nicky very well and was a joy to watch.
The film itself looks great with the cinematography of 1938 bringing the past to life on the big screen, the same goes for the 1980s and it certainly brought back the era to me of those days in the 80s. Victor Bertelmann (All Quiet on the Western Front, Ammonite) brings us a wonderful soundtrack that adds to the atmosphere of both the 1930s and 1980s, it’s a joy to listen to.
If you want to step away from the action, horror and superhero films for a while then One Life is certainly worth checking out.
An emotional film based on a true story
Movie title: One Life (2023)
Movie description: The story of Sir Nicholas 'Nicky' Winton, a young London broker who, in the months leading up to World War II, rescued 669 predominantly Jewish children from the Nazis.
Date published: January 15, 2024
Country: UK
Duration: 1h 50m
Director(s): James Hawes
Actor(s): Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter, Romola Garai
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Summary
One Life is an interesting and emotional film that you may need some tissues to watch.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
