One Life

The annals of World War II are once again dusted off for a cinematic audience in James Hawes’ One Life. The film depicts the inspiring true story of British humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton, who, with the assistance of his mother and colleagues, orchestrated the rescue of 669 children from the Nazis in Czechoslovakia in the months preceding the outbreak of the war, and the aftermath still felt half a century later. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter, Jonathan Pryce and Johnny Flynn, this film begs the question of what it is like to be an ordinary hero during an extraordinary moment in time.

Based on Barbara Winton’s book, If It’s Not Impossible … The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton, this biographical drama weaves together two periods in time, pre-war 1938 and 1988. The film opens with a stoic Sir Nicholas Winton (Anthony Hopkins), who carries the weight of the past on his shoulders and is plagued by memories – and an amass of papers and boxes in his study and shed – and is unable to confront the past. In 1938, the younger Nicky (Johnny Flynn) visits Prague and is moved by the amount of families with little or no shelter who have fled Nazi-occupied Germany and Austria. Upon Nicky’s return to London, and with invasion looming, Nicky works with Trevor Chadwick (Alex Sharp) and Doreen Warriner (Romola Garai), and his mother, Babi (Helena Bonham Carter), to rescue 669 children and connect them with English families. In a true race against the clock, the Nazis oppress Prague and block a train full of children en route to the safety of England. Back in 1988, Nicholas struggles to accept he is a hero until he is invited to the live TV show That’s Life! where the host surprises him by introducing him to one of the child survivors, who, now an adult, made a brand new life and family. What comes next is Nicholas coming to terms with the grief and guilt of the children that didn’t survive, but also cherishes the people he saved.

As a whole, One Life is a fine film. The pacing, in the beginning, is a little slow but adequately conjures a sense of urgency and impending terror in pre-war Prague, with the tension between Nicky and the group heightening as the Nazis inch closer. The emotional pay-off, however, kicks in when the elder Nicholas meets with the real survivors in the That’s Life! scenes, which makes the movie very much worth it. In the emotional reunion scenes, the horrors and devastations of war, and the separation of families hit home challenging the stiffest upper lips in the audience.

In cinemas from Boxing Day, One Life is one to put on your list. Anthony Hopkins is his usual superb self, carrying much of the story of a hero beleaguered by the past and Helena Bonham Carter is a gem playing Babi, the strong-willed mother determined to help her son.  

One Life
In cinemas Tuesday 26 December 2023
View trailer