In a 2001 interview with The New York Times, Nicholas Winton, a British stockbroker who was compared to Oskar Schindler after playing a key role in organizing the evacuation of 669 mostly Jewish kids from Czechoslovakia just before the start of World War II, dodged an explanation about his efforts, saying, “Why did I do it? Why do people do different things? Some people revel in taking risks, and some go through life taking no risks at all.” James Hawes’ debut feature film, One Life, is an example of the latter, unfurling its narrative in a straightforward and predictable manner and coming short of getting at the core of the man’s motivations, frustratingly revealing little beyond what can be found with a quick Google search.
The film’s only notable stylistic choice is to alternate between Winton devising the Kindertransport operation to rescue the child refugees in 1938 (Johnny Flynn) and an older Winton in 1988 (Anthony Hopkins) continuously haunted by the fact that he was not able to provide an escape train to England for everyone. Early on, a rabbi tells Flynn’s character a translated Hebrew teaching, saying, “Do not start what you cannot finish.” While the film’s 1930s section is done to provide context for the older Winton’s dismissiveness over his remarkable endeavor – he refuses to claim credit, telling only a select few about what he accomplished – it bogs the film down in exposition and restricts its emotional power to the point where its definitive moment almost purely designed to make viewers tear up fizzles out in anticlimax.
Screenwriters Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake focus much of their storytelling on the conventional plotline of the younger Winton meeting with the children and their families in Prague and clashing with immigration officials in London to obtain visas and funding. Hawes competently provides sequences of Winton, his mother, Bobi, (Helena Bonham Carter) and his real-life collaborators Doreen Warriner (Romola Garai) and Trevor Chadwick (Alex Sharp) working tirelessly to get the kids safe passage and foster families in England, but he does not capture who Winton really is outside of a heroic character archetype.
Although Flynn is given more of the film’s action, the older Winton’s scenes are more illuminating as the screenplay allows Hopkins more space to define his character. The manner in which he often mutters to himself and looks mournfully out into the distance conveys a logical progression of a man 50 years later. Flynn effectively matches Hopkins’ portrayal of regret and humility with the younger Winton’s idealism and urgency, complementing the legendary actor’s performance and nearly making the film work.
Throughout One Life, the older Winton says he wants people to learn from his story, but despite its exemplary performances, the film may leave audiences with concerns regarding how it was told. The Holocaust has always been a topic that butts heads with filmmaking. How can you tell a story that thoughtfully, honestly and ethically reflects such cruelty? Even masters like Steven Spielberg have been sharply criticized, with Schindler’s List deriving drama from real suffering and centering it around a heroic protagonist. Last year saw Academy Award Best Picture nominee The Zone of Interest attempt an answer by practically throwing out narrative convention to gaze at the perpetrators and confront viewers with how close they are to acts of horrific barbarity. Perhaps One Life’s biggest fault is that it plays it safe and doesn’t try to address this question. By closely following standards set from previous works, the film fails to justify whether its story should be told.
Photo courtesy of Bleecker Street
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