One Life-Movie Review- How One Man's Life Changed The Lives of Hundreds of Children-- In Theaters Friday March 15, 2024

In our lifetime there are so many people on this planet of ours that we will never meet, or even hear about in our daily lives. A person who I will be thankful to get to know, however little that is, here in this film, is Nicholas Winton, who was a stockbroker in London, England, and would end up saving the lives of hundreds of children in the years 1938-39.

The movie is based on the book by his daughter, Barbara Winton-- If It's Not Impossible…The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton, a book she wrote in 2014. She also co-wrote the screenplay and she had requested that Anthony Hopkins play her father, after reading the script, he accepted the part.

Johnny Flynn(pictured above)plays the young Nicholas Winton, with determination and not willing to give up, he would go on to save the lives of 669 Jewish children in Czechoslovakia when Hitler was going to invade the country and close the borders.

He and several others were responsible for getting the papers and passports that the families desperately needed to get their children to safety.

We flicker through different periods of his life, and I am not sure why, but I think it's because Anthony Hopkins just can capture the essence of a scene and what it needs, no matter how little, that I found his parts to be the best part of the film. 

Not taking anything away from the rest of the movie at all.

It goes without saying that this is not something for everyone, but there is a lesson to be learned here, also there is an incredible story that is being told. Quite often the horrors of war are just that, soldiers on the field killing each other or doing horrendous things to other human beings. The film doesn't sugarcoat it by any means but it has heart and hope that one person can make a difference. This is more about what can be done for the greater good.

Helena Bonham Carter-above plays Nicholas Winton's mother Babi Winton, who is supportive and helps her son with getting some financial support to help with the papers and passports for the children, to get them out of the path of harm and transport them to England.

The casting for both ages of Nicholas Winton is quite remarkable when you see the similarities in the faces of the people portraying them.

Even as he aged Mr Winton would never allow the events that took place to be about him, but rather the children that they were not able to save, it would haunt him until his death. They had kept books with the children's pictures and a number for each child, when they were selected to be adopted by someone an X was drawn over the accompanying piece of paper over the child. When they were in transport, the child would wear the number around their neck, so when they reached their destination it was easy to account for each child and to send them to their adoptive families.

 

If you do decide to go to and see the film, bring some tissues as the end nears there are

a few scenes that will definitely make you cry, I will be surprised if you don't, I sure did.

Lena Olin(above) has a small part as Grete Winton, wife of Nicholas.

One such scene is when Nicholas Winton was a guest on a British talk show and he was in the studio audience surrounded by the lives of those whom he saved.

Above, Anthony Hopkins is in the scene with some of the real surviving children that Nicolas Winton saved back in 1938-39.

Nicholas Winton passed away at the age of 106 on July 1, 2015.