Summary

Authentic storytelling: Deep research ensured truth in portraying Nicholas Winton and his colleagues in their brave rescue efforts.
Inclusive representation: Film highlights the contributions of other key individuals involved in the Kindertransport rescue mission.
Timely message: Winton’s legacy prompts reflection on the importance of treating all children equally and learning from past mistakes.

One Life tells the deeply emotional and harrowing true story of the Czech Kindertransport at the dawn of World War II. In 1938, Nicholas Winton, an English stockbroker, worked with volunteers at the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia (BCRC) to save the lives of hundreds of Jewish children. Winton organized safe passage through Nazi-occupied Europe and found them safe foster homes in Great Britain. His incredible deeds went unheralded for 50 years until a popular television show recognized Winton for his heroism. The film takes place along two timelines. The legendary Anthony Hopkins stars as Winton in the ’80s, with Johnny Flynn portraying him as a younger man during the war.

Director James Hawes keenly felt a responsibility to accurately depict Winton, his colleagues, and their brave actions, “I went deep into the research everywhere I could. There are autobiographies. We spoke to the people who are living, who were either themselves on the train, or whose parents had been involved in the rescue.” Hawes also addresses critical historians who believe Winton gets too much credit for the rescues, “It’s absolutely fair. The first person to have agreed with them would have been Nicholas Winton, who said the only reason he really got all the credit was because he was the guy who lived longest. We went out of our way in this film to include those other individuals. Their contribution is very powerfully heard through the story.”

Hawes concludes with his thoughts on Winton’s assumed reaction to children trapped in war zones today, “Nicky would be appalled that we haven’t learned the lessons from the Second World War​​​. You treat all children the same. They should all be given the same chances, the chance to live, to survive, and not die in the wars that we grownups impose on them.” Please watch above and read below for our complete interview with James Hawes.

The Truth and Accuracy of One Life
One Life 3.5/5 Release Date January 1, 2024 Director James Hawes Runtime 1hr 50min Writers Lucinda Coxon , Nick Drake Studio See-Saw Films, MBK Productions, BBC Film

MovieWeb: I saw the One Life premiere at the Jewish Museum in Battery Park, New York. I was very moved when you brought the survivors in the audience on stage. You had a responsibility to tell their story accurately. How did you make sure that everything told is the truth, given that many of these people are still alive?

James Hawes: I went deep into the research everywhere I could. So, obviously, there are biographies. There are autobiographies. [Doreen] Warriner’s character wrote a whole account of the time in Prague. We spoke to the people who are living, who were either themselves on the train, or whose parents had been involved in the rescue.

James Hawes: So we went deep into the families for their history, and we spoke to historians and museums who curated some of that past. So whether it was the Holocaust Educational Trust in London, or the private museums, those who knew particularly about the Nicky Winton story. We can’t get everything exactly right. Somebody is going to write and tell me that the trains are from the wrong era. It’s already happening. But you get everything you possibly can as close to true and accurate as you can.

Related: The Best Historical Films You Haven’t Watched (Yet)

Johnny Flynn as Young Nicholas Winton

MW: When you’re working with Anthony Hopkins, you’re playing with house money; he’s possibly the greatest actor of all time. But I want to talk to you about casting the young Nicholas Winton, Johnny Flynn, someone I’ve admired for years as a singer and an actor. He’s also absolutely brilliant in this film. Talk about casting him.

James Hawes: Part of the credit goes to Nina Gold, our casting director. I’ve been lucky enough to work with Johnny before, when he played the young Albert Einstein to Geoffrey Rush’s older Einstein on that Discovery TV series. Johnny has a very special thing, because he is such a generous man and a generous actor. Obviously, there’s some similarity in the physical makeup of those two men. They have the same intensity in their blue eyes. They have a strength in their setting. But what really matters is the generous spirit, and the warmth that they both exude.

James Hawes: And it was also about Johnny. I knew he’d be somebody who wouldn’t feel the need to impose his version of Nicky on this performance. He would come in, as I suspected he would, incredibly respectful and thrilled to be there with Anthony, quite honestly. And they spent days together. As Anthony was filming his sequences first, Johnny was on the edge of the set watching the process, talking about the choices that Anthony was making for the performance. Talking about the research they’ve jointly done, so that it would infuse one performance rather than have two running in any way out of step.

Related The 13 Best British Movies About World War II, Ranked From The Dam Busters to Darkest Hour, here are some of the best World War II films from the British perspective.

MW: Here’s the hard question. What do you say to some historians, who believe that maybe Nicholas Winton gets too much credit, because he was safe in England while Doreen and Trevor [Chadwick] were hiding from the Gestapo and really doing the actions of bringing the children to the trains and shepherding them? What do you say to that criticism?

James Hawes: That it’s not a criticism. That it’s absolutely fair. That the first person to have agreed with them would have been Nicholas Winton, who said the only reason he really got all the credit was because he was the guy who lived longest. That the story had been quiet because the generation after the war spent most of their time leaving that in their past, so hideous were the things they’d seen to cope with. We went out of our way in this film to include those other individuals. We made sure, unlike some tellings of the story in the past, that Doreen Warriner, Trevor Chadwick, Martin Blake, and the Czech volunteers are also represented. Their contribution is very powerfully heard through the story in this film.

Lessons Not Learned from World War II

MW: I’ll end on another serious question. There’s so much going on in the world where all these children are facing war. Not to get political, but what message do you want people who see this movie to take away from it, that can basically apply to every situation where children are in danger?

James Hawes: There are two messages. One is that Nicky would be appalled that we haven’t learned the lessons from the Second World War and that so much, it’s so similar now. We should look at ourselves and ask, why is that the case? The second is that Nicky would say you treat all children the same. It’s not about race or creed, or ethnicity, or social status. They should all be treated the same, given the same chances, and given the chance to live, and to survive, and not die in the wars that we grownups impose on them.

One Life is currently in limited theatrical release from Bleecker Street Films. You can watch the trailer below: