One Life film review: Anthony Hopkins shines in sentimental drama
Star rating: ★★★☆☆ | At 86 years old, Anthony Hopkins shows no signs of slowing down following his resurgence in 2020 with The Father. In One Life, the two-time Oscar winner plays Nicholas Winton, a British stockbroker who visits Czechoslovakia in the 1930s and is alarmed by the threat that the rise of The Nazis poses to their children. He fights bureaucracy and ignorance to organise Kindertransport, an operation that resulted in the rescue of 669 children prior to the outbreak of World War 2.
It’s partly inspired by the famous clip from the TV show That’s Life in 1988, where host Esther Rantzen reveals to an older Winton that many of the lives he saved are now adults in the audience. The film is divided into two parts, with Johnny Flynn playing the younger Winton during his rescue efforts, and Hopkins later in his life, filled with grief and regret at not being able to save more.
Hopkins is the clear standout, telling the story of a humble man who is haunted by those he couldn’t save, rather than comforted by those he could. The film that surrounds him is less nuanced, rightly heaping praise on its subject but giving the audience less clarity on the opposition he faced, or why one man could see the terror that was looming before a whole government.
Nevertheless, fine performances gloss over the plot’s weakness. Helena Bonham Carter, rapidly ascending to the status of National Treasure, is sublime as Winton’s mother, Babette, who brings fearsome confidence to her son’s fight.
One Life is more interested in celebrating the efforts of a great man than in questioning why he had to fight so hard. While that might be disappointing from a dramatic perspective, it’s difficult not to be moved by the humility of Hopkins’ performance, or the film’s emphasis of how much one person can affect the world.