One Life (2023)
2023
PG
109 Minutes
British stockbroker Nicholas Winton visits Czechoslovakia in the 1930s and forms plans to assist in the rescue of Jewish children before the onset of World War II, in an operation that came to be k...
User Review
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WHAT I LIKED: Lucinda Coxon and James Hawes' 'One Life,' follows the true story of Nicholas Winton and a small team of Brits rescuing hundreds of Czech children from Hitler's invasion. It cuts between Winton as an old man who is haunted by the children he didn't manage to save, and his memories of 1939 where he visited Prague and then returned to England to arrange the transport of refugees with the help of his family and a team on the ground.
The humble attitude of both the young and old Winton (played masterfully by Anthony Hopkins) and the incredible feat he managed to pull off makes for a deeply moving story that brings home the power of individual action in the face of evil. But that's a thematic message which hits particularly hard at a time when we're all witnessing a genocide being live-streamed from the streets of Gaza, and the obvious parallels - from the creeping Nazi invasion to the British government's (initial) indifference - will leave you angry and horrified in equal measure.
All of that together makes for a simply overwhelming gut-punch of a film that acts as both a moving artefact and a powerful call to arms.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Its direction may be somewhat televisual, but that's no criticism when the character and themes are so powerful.
VERDICT: 'One Life,' is an incredible true story that brings home the power of individual action in the face of unimaginable evil, and that couldn't be more impactful or important in times like these.0 member like this review.
