Can one tire of Anthony Hopkins portraying an old man? That was my reaction entering the cinema but One Life reaffirms his craftsmanship. A “true story” narrative of Nicholas Winton, an ordinary stockbroker (perfectly cast as a young Hopkins and played convincingly by Johnny Flynn) who overcomes huge odds to rescue hundreds of young children from Czechoslovakia just prior to Hitler’s invasion at the start of WWII, this film also subverts the sogginess of such tales. Deftly switching between then and the present, and starkly presenting the horrors of wartime chaos on children without treacly sentimentality, the three screenwriters and director James Hawes masterfully create a documentary ambience without leaching tension. The present-day ending could have been badly fluffed, because there is no grand finale, but instead the film closes with grace and genuine empathy. One Life: a quiet triumph.
Book, movie/show, and album reviews
