Genre: Effects of 
war – true story
Platform: Amazon rent
Time : 1 Hour 47 minutes
Director: James Hawes
Cast: Anthony Hopkins. Lena Olin. Johnny Flynn
Fact: When Hitler annexed Czechoslovakia in 1938 and finally invaded it, Nicholas Winton, a British citizen, worked actively to help many flee. Many parents wanted their children to grown up free and in a country devoid of any racism or bigotry, Winton helped 660+ Czech children to settle in Britain and they grew up with English names and as British citizens. He led a quiet life until one day he was called to a TV program fifty years later in 1988, where his identity was unmasked in front of the audience composed mostly from the 660+ children, now grown up .
Film: First let us deal with the reality of the ‘unmasking’. Winton who led a quiet life was called to a program, which he didn’t think much about. Look at the actual clip here :
It is always difficult to film a picture where the historical outcome is already well known and there is a tendency to go overboard with too much ‘manufactured incidents’ to boost the image of the main character. However the film flits between the present, 1988, and the past 1939.
We see a young Winton (Johnny Flynn) cajoling, pleading and generally trying to save as many children as he can. He and the British embassy staff do their best to get as many permits as they can to get the children out . The older Winton (Anthony Hopkins) is somewhat bitter as he feels he could have done a better job and got more children out but I suspect that this is the ‘filmy’ angle at work .
This is not a war film but shows the consequences of racism and bigotry and how one man did the right thing, despite his government not being exactly sympathetic and looking the other way. The Munich pact of 1938 allowed Hitler to take parts of “German Czechoslovakia” so that British PM Chamberlain could wave a piece of paper with Hitler’s signature and declare “peace in our time. Winton’s ground reality was different compared to the back offices of Whitehall and he does the best that he can under the circumstances.
Its on Amazon Rent but it will be worth your time as you will see that one man, maintained sanity while the whole world went mad. Perhaps that is what is called as being a human.
Script – 5 out of 5
Story – 5 out of 5
Direction – 5 out of 5
Photography – 4 out of 5
Total – 4.8 out of 5
Shall most certainly watch.
Your recommendations are great.
It really takes guts to go against a oppressive system. Yes Anthony Hopkins is always brilliant. He was brilliant in The Remains of the Day (1993) as well.
Thanks for this review, Rammesh.
A film just as emotionally powerful as ‘Schindler’s List’.
From another film-review site:
“What occurs in the final act of the movie follows the backstory of the viral clip, also taking a closer look at Nicholas (Winton) in his autumnal years, processing all that’s happened, which includes heavy regret for what couldn’t be done. Hopkins is the right actor for the part, turning his usual doddering old man routine into something sharper when feelings crash into Nicholas, finally taking in all that’s happened. It’s some beautiful acting, giving “One Life” hits of raw emotion in an otherwise safe and accessible examination of wartime heroism.
Perhaps the title should have been “Some Heroes dont hold guns”. Incidentally there were many such “Schindlers”; its only that Schindler’s list, with all that is Hollywood, opened the box in which so many such stories were hidden.