One Life

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One Life

Giving this an 8/10 rating Another film this week, based on true events, with Anthony Hopkins showing that while there is good work out there, he is more than up to the task. Johnny Flynn plays his the younger version of the Hopkins character, set in World War 2, and is proper good. Helena Bonham Carter, Lena Olin, Samantha Spiro, Romola Garai and all the cast are not wasted at all, they all deliver in this quite extraordinary story of and impossible task that happened. Did hate the 1980's and they capture it's plainness too well. That's a good thing, the script is very simple with it zipping along at a calm pace that suits the film, The bleakness of the look during the second world war is a tribute to the great sets, costumes and production design. Soft sound, no real bangs, but still there is the Nazi evil and grief that is quite plain too see. Anthony Hopkins is the main selling point here and he does what he does with the role which is gentle and he can do this kind of thing effortlessly.

This film embodies a sluggish and aged pace in its essence, script, and directorial execution. "Being based on a true story" seems to serve as a shield for mediocrity, with directors and scriptwriters perhaps under the impression that as long as the source material is captivating, there's no need to invest additional effort in refining the film's narrative. The entire cinematic experience resembles a VCR recording of an awards ceremony more than a skilfully crafted narrative. It adopts a stagnant rhythm, a narrative lacking any dramatic tension, characters with unmotivated actions and lacking depth, historical details superficially addressed, and an art direction reminiscent of uninspiring television. What proves particularly irksome is the excessive inclusion of tedious dialogues where characters repetitively exchange information already established in previous scenes. It feels as if they are attempting to stretch a 60-minute VCR into a forced 110-minute television drama. After viewing, I checked the director's portfolio and unsurprisingly found little to no experience in film creation-almost exclusively television dramas.

I cannot say other than that it is a wonderful true war story, however poorly and lazily written with no build-up of characters. There is no explanation or background of why the main character is doing this. I would have liked it if they had shown something of his childhood, some psychological reason why he is so driven to save these people, in order to get more into the story as a viewing audience. It feels uncomfortable though to give a low rating because the story per se does touch me, especially that survivors helped to make the film, and played along with the film themselves. I think the disappointment was mainly that this was necessary to feel emotion for the story, rather than a talent-written piece.

The story of Nicholas Winton, who saved hundreds of children from the Nazis just before the start of WW2 by organising trains from Czechoslovakia to the UK, is very much a story worth telling, especially as he was essentially a modest hero, one who didn't even think he deserved recognition, which makes his story all the more moving as it unfolds in flashback from late 70s Britain as Winton, superbly portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, remembers the events of the late 1930s. Of course, there have been so many WW2 dramas over the years, so I felt the pre-war scenes do somewhat lack tension and a certain freshness, but good direction and succinct writing do calmly and absorbingly set the scene, explaining those earlier events well, but we also follow the way that 40 years later the heroic efforts of Winton and his colleagues were finally revealed and celebrated, ultimately making it a truly moving and revealing film. Perhaps, considering how things look today, it's also a reminder of how good really can triumph over evil and cynicism, and it's finally a superb tribute to a remarkable man.

All One Life has to do to honour its true story is tell it with care and competency and that's exactly what it does. This is a deeply affecting story of selfless people who did everything they could to save as many people as possible whilst others just ignored what was going on. Anthony Hopkins is on terrific form here. He embodies the selflessness effortlessly and brings a heartbreaking sense of defeat, focusing on what he could've done rather than what he achieved. He's also one of the rare actors who can make you cry by bringing on the waterworks, when he cries you cry. In the flashbacks Johnny Flynn is an extremely convincing younger version of Hopkins with that same desire to always do more. Helena Bonham Carter gets a loveable role supporting Flynn with a stern determination and refusal to take no for an answer. James Hawes directs with a level of technical competency that's designed to go unnoticed. The production value is reminiscent of a high end BBC production, which is obviously very fitting and the pacing is really strong. Undoubtedly helped by spending the majority of the time in the flashbacks which are rife with tension.

Turn on the news and what do you see? Man's inhumanity to man. Ukraine, Gaza etc etc. It's enough to make you lose faith in the human race - or it would be were it not for the occasional story of humanity at its best. In Czechoslovakia in 1938-9, a small group of people (Nicholas Winton is the best known as he was the last survivor of that group) are appalled by the plight of mainly Jewish refugees, and resolve to do something. Despite opposition from governments (German, Dutch, British and American) they manage to evacuate 669 children and provide them with foster families in the UK, where many of their descendants live to this day. A further 250 children were on a train that was scheduled to leave on the day war was declared. Two of them were still alive at the war's end. Then the story was forgotten for more than forty years, until at last Nicholas Winton was given the recognition he deserved (not the least astonishing part of the story is that Robert Maxwell did one decent thing in his life). The film is in two parts; the younger Winton being played by Johnny Flynn, the older by Anthony Hopkins. Both give stand-out performances. Also excellent is Helena Bonham Carter as Winton's mother. The scene where she tells a bureaucrat what she thinks of him is priceless. But the most important aspect of the film is its message. Human kindness is still a force in the world. Everyone can make a difference. No good deed, be it great or small, is ever wasted. If only governments were run by people like Nicholas Winton.

Beware: this is not a 100% Anthony Hopkins movie, because this portrait is split into 2 parts, with another young (unknown) leading actor portraying the young version of Anthony Hopkins and there lies the problem... The bad: Anthony Hopkins delivered another stellar performance! The mand oozes charisma. Such a joy to watch him perform. BUT.....but his younger character, played by some actor completely unknown to me got as much screen time and he simply is completely lacking in charisma and that actually matters a lot, because there is definitely a lack of true actor's chemistry because of this young actor's shortcomings in performing. More bad: this movie fails to really achieve any sort of riveting true drama. The opposite is true! It is more of a gentle slowburning portrait (with only a few dramatic-ish scenes) than it is a riveting world war 2 drama. There simply is NO real drama in this movie. NOT what I expected at all! It sure as heck aint no Schindler's List, directed brilliantly by Steven Spielberg in 1993 with a similar plot, which had TONS of suspense and drama and had me all teary eyed at the end! I am quite disappointed. I blame the writer. This is not much more than a shallow surrogate of Schindler's List. Probably best suited for a patience, senior audience, who dont mind lots of uneventful talking scenes without ANY drama.