How to Live One Life (CREDIT: Bleecker Street)
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Lena Olin, Johnny Flynn, Romola Garai, Alex Sharp, Marthe Keller, Jonathan Pryce, Helena Bonham Carter
Director: James Hawes
Running Time: 110 Minutes
Rating: PG for The Looming Threat of Nazism
Release Date: March 15, 2024 (Theaters)
What’s It About?: In 1988 England, Nicholas Winton (Anthony Hopkins) spends most of his days at home while his wife Grete (Lena Olin) insists that he clean up all the clutter in his office before their family comes over to visit. But there are some important documents in there, particularly records of the time he spent in Czechoslovakia right before World War II, during which he helped German and Austrian Jewish refugees secure passports to escape the clutches of the Nazis. One Life flashes back to that time in the life of the young Winton (Johnny Flynn), which ends all too abruptly. He’s haunted by those he couldn’t save, though he did manage to get more than 600 children to safety. For decades, his story remains untold, but once he starts sharing his records, it suddenly becomes clear how much of a difference he’s made in the world.
What Made an Impression?: The National Tidiness: You don’t feel a ton of urgency in the 1930s portion of One Life, despite the clear crisis at hand. Surely that can be chalked up to the reserved national character of England. Furthermore, there’s a sense that nobody knows who is responsible for these refugees. Winton’s connection to them is tenuous, but striking. His parents were German Jewish immigrants who changed their last names and converted to Christianity, but he still feels enough of a kinship to do something. And while he’s far from emotionless, that feels like more of a logical calculation than anything. In that same vein, while the job is obviously dangerous, the audience never quite feels that danger viscerally.
Small But Effective: But that small-scale suddenness is kind of the point. Winton surely would have liked to have been in Czechoslovakia longer, but it just wasn’t in the cards. If you asked him point blank, he probably would have apologized for saving too few souls. And while those 600 or so may pale in comparison to the millions who were killed in concentration camps, they’re not nothing. When Winton’s story gets out, he’s booked on the BBC current affairs program That’s Life, which he and Grete initially dismiss as a silly little show. But when he’s reunited with some of the now-grown survivors, he realizes the deep and lasting value of the life he’s lived.
Suddenly Overwhelming: One Life culminates by recreating a moment from the real Winton’s appearance on That’s Life, and the effect is profoundly overwhelming. If you don’t know the story, I won’t describe it too specifically, but let’s just say that Winton is given a gift in the form of a tangible representation of the impact of his humanitarian work. It reminded me of the transcendent ending of Places in the Heart, which features a reunion in a church that effectively dramatizes a vision of heaven on Earth. Like the man at its center, One Life is a mostly unassuming movie, with a sublime conclusion.
One Life is Recommended If You Like: Places in the Heart, Holocaust documentaries, British chat shows
Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Passports
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