‘One Life’ Review: Anthony Hopkins Plays One of the Most Notable Humanitarians of the 20th Century

March 14, 2024

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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

‘Amulet’ Joins the Long Line of Creepy Cinematic Abodes

July 22, 2020

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Amulet (CREDIT: Rob Baker Ashton/Magnet Releasing)

Starring: Carla Juri, Alec Secareanu, Imelda Staunton, Angeliki Papoulia, Anah Ruddin

Director: Romola Garai

Running Time: 99 Minutes

Rating: R for Freaky and Disturbing Images

Release Date: July 24, 2020 (Theaters and On Demand)

It’s nice when people open their houses up to someone who doesn’t have anywhere else to stay. But it’s not so nice when there’s something demonic lurking within that house. Not to mention all the structural problems that often go hand-in-hand with supernatural occupancy. Maybe the guest can summon some exorcism skills, but when the pipes are leaking and the walls are cracking, it can be tough to get in a good night’s sleep. This is the predicament that the homeless Tomaz (Alec Secareanu) finds himself in in Amulet, Romola Garai’s feature directorial debut. He’s given an offer he’s not in much of a place to refuse: to stay at the home of Magda (Carla Juri), a young woman who seems entirely cut off from the rest of the world as she cares for her dying mother.

As Amulet starts up, it strikes me as a slow-burn horror in the vein of It Comes at Night, where it’s not clear that we’ll ever fully see what’s causing all the commotion. I also detect notes of The Innkeepers, in terms of a general feeling of spookiness instead of any fully present monsters. If anything, it seems for a while that the scariest figure could be a stern nun played by Imelda Staunton. (And by Imelda Staunton standards, she’s actually fairly nice.)

But then a bat shows up in a toilet. I thought it was a pig at first. But no, it’s very much a bloodsucking mammal, and it’s in a foul mood. And that description would also accurately describe Magda’s mom and the whole house itself (not so much the mammal part for the latter). In the final act, Amulet ruthlessly turns macabre and baroque right quick. It’s a little overwhelming and presumably would have been even more so if I had seen it in a theater instead of at my home. Thie go-for-broke set design would almost certainly be more enveloping on a bigger screen, but its boldness is at least still impressive no matter what the scale. And that’s important, because that is pretty much where Amulet pulls all of its eggs in the basket when everything is said and done.

Amulet is Recommended If You Like: Vampire bats

Grade: 3 out of 5 Home Repairs