One Life (2023)

December 21, 2023 (AU) • History, Drama • 109m

Overview

British stockbroker Nicholas Winton visits Czechoslovakia in the 1930s and forms plans to assist in the rescue of Jewish children before the onset of World War II, in an operation that came to be known as the Kindertransport.

Director

James Hawes

Writers

Nick Drake, Lucinda Coxon

Top Billed

Anthony Hopkins

Keywords

world war ii deportation czechoslovakia biography based on true story refugee train war hero nazi invasion jewish family kindertransport jewish refugee 1930s semi-biographical pre-war jewish history jews nazi germany jews in hiding dramatic jewish child jewish community empathetic

Where to watch

Free / Included

Wonder Project Amazon Channel

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Top Billed Cast

Anthony Hopkins

Nicholas Winton

Johnny Flynn

Young Nicholas Winton

Lena Olin

Grete Winton

Romola Garai

Doreen Warriner

Alex Sharp

Trevor Chadwick

Jonathan Pryce

Martin Blake

Helena Bonham Carter

Babi Winton

Juliana Moska

Hana Hejdukova

Ziggy Heath

Young Martin Blake

Marthe Keller

Betty Maxwell

Tim Steed

Bernard

Matilda Thorpe

Nina

Samantha Spiro

Esther Rantzen

Adrian Rawlins

Geoff

Tom Glenister

William Hughes

Michael Gould

Leadbetter

Samuel Finzi

Rabbi Hertz

Jiří Šimek

Rudi

Ffion Jolly

Barbara Winton

Simon Thorp

Mr. Hart

Emily Laing

BBC Researcher

Henrietta Garden

Vera Gissing

Anna Darvas

Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines

Jonathan Tafler

Hanus Snabl

Barbora Vacková

Monika Holub

Jolana Jirotková

Gap-Toothed Girl

Michal Škach

Jan Slonek

Samuel Himal

Karel Slonek

Matej Karas

Petr Slonek

Ella Novakova

Lenka

Martin Bednár

Vaclav Slonek

Petr Jeništa

Communist BCRC Volunteer

Darren Clarke

Home Office Clerk

Nick Blakeley

Junior Civil Servant

Kateřina Jebavá

German Mother

Sean Brodeur

Father

Frantiska Polakova

Young Vera Diamontova

Alzbeta Cerna

Eva Diamontova

Dan Vynohradnyk

Tommy

Max Vynohradnyk

Honza

Antonie Formanová

Marta Diamontova

Beáta Mikušová

Frightened Girl

Janusz Hummel

Father at Train Window

Michaela Hráská

Mother at Train Window

Jiří Valeš

Lone Father

Kateřina Kocichová

Shocked Mother

Milan Ligač

Czech Military

Stuart Ramsay

Gavin Campbell

Matilda Bedford

Restaurant Hostess

Charles Armstrong

Wine Waiter

Angus Kennedy

New Statesman Reporter

Lukáš Král

Reluctant Father

Vilma Frantová

Weeping Mother

Aleš Bílík

Officer on Train

Jaromíra Mílová

Vera's Foster Mother

Liam Smith

Railway Official

Marie-Claire Wood

Betty's Assistant

Eliška Jechová

Panicked Mother

Justin Svoboda

Angry Father

Joe Weintraub

Gestapo Officer

Barbora Černá

Gap-Toothed Girl's Mother

Richard Popple

Steve Watson

Alma Salomon

Vera's Granddaughter

Barbora Váchová

Monika Holub

Kemal Shah

Diner

Alan D West

That's Life Audience / Maidenhead Passerby (uncredited)

Crew

Nina Gold

Casting

Lucia Zucchetti

Editor

Norman Merry

Executive Producer

Aline Leonello

Supervising Art Director

Maria Logan

Executive Producer

Mark Hubbard

Co-Producer

Volker Bertelmann

Original Music Composer

Simon Gillis

Executive Producer

Anne Sheehan

Executive Producer

Christina Moore

Production Design

Jan Kalous

Art Direction

Philippa Hart

Set Decoration

Zac Nicholson

Director of Photography

Klara Zimova

Set Decoration

Petra Vencelidesová

Set Decoration

Joanna Eatwell

Costume Design

Linda Eisenhamerová

Hairstylist

Adam Porkert

Production Manager

Jakub Dvorak

First Assistant Director

Shane Harford

Property Master

Jamie Walton

Set Dresser

Chris Reynolds

Special Effects Supervisor

Menelaos Pampoukidis

Visual Effects Supervisor

Lucy Amos

Casting

Michael Middleton

Second Assistant Director

Beth Kendrick

Graphic Designer

Rob Hughes

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Hannah Sapira

Assistant Location Manager

Jean Carlos de Blas

Makeup Artist

Yvon Rigg

Art Department Trainee

Thibault Arnold

ADR Mixer

Iain Mackay

"A" Camera Operator

Lindani Ndabandaba

Production Secretary

Peter Elton

Visual Effects Coordinator

Filip Marek

Gaffer

Ali Youssef

First Assistant "A" Camera

Julia Szecsenyi

Production Assistant

Arwa Salmanova

Casting

Karen Hartley-Thomas

Makeup Designer

Will Cummins

Additional Photography

Karel Stýblo

Property Master

Ben Brown

First Assistant Camera

Khadeeja Chowdhury

Camera Trainee

Joshua Lewis-Green

Best Boy Electric

Lara Channon

Assistant Editor

Joshua Darby

Production Coordinator

Ali Moshref

Production Executive

Jan Gregor

Second Assistant Director

Zoe Cavendish

Art Department Assistant

Gabrielle Leon

Graphic Designer

Jason Swanscott

Foley Artist

Marek Brichcin

Stunts

Harry Bennett-Snewin

Digital Imaging Technician

Sacha Kovacevic

Electrician

Mark Gladwin

Location Scout

Jessica Nosal

Location Manager

Christina Moore

Production Designer

Roisin King

ADR Recordist

David Fowler

Visual Effects Supervisor

Martin Polách

Camera Operator

Nick Laurence

First Assistant Director

Stuart Bagshaw

Foley Editor

Sarah Dicks

Visual Effects Producer

Kristina Hejduková

Line Producer

Richard Morgan

Second Assistant Sound

Tomas Potuznik

Electrician

Oscar Perillo

Digital Intermediate

Nikolay Savov

Assistant Production Coordinator

Alicia Graf

Second Assistant Director

Sophia Hardman

Foley Mixer

Amir F. Qureshi

Video Assist Operator

Thora Woodward

First Assistant Editor

Laurence Cooper

Production Executive

Rashad Hall-Heinz

Sound Mixer

Kornelijus Tuzas

Visual Effects Editor

Karol Pruzinsky

Second Assistant Camera

Jamie Welsh

Colorist

Cristina Arcay

Location Scout

Aneta Chalas

Production Manager

Marek Boros

Art Department Coordinator

Ian McCaffrey

Storyboard Artist

Alan MacFeely

Production Sound Mixer

Dearbhaile Collins

Camera Trainee

Iain Mackay

Steadicam Operator

Martin Maryška

First Assistant "B" Camera

Julie Vrabelová

Still Photographer

Kim Worthington

Key Grip

Jojo Warne

Location Scout

Jirka Kasparek

Unit Manager

Callum O'Donoghue

Transportation Captain

Fiona Matthews

Makeup Artist

Michael Carrithers

Production Assistant

Martin Dvořák

Property Buyer

Markus Moll

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Robert Jewell

Visual Effects Editor

Mark Clayton

Gaffer

Hannah Kenneally-Muir

Script Supervisor

Christian Proctor

Third Assistant Director

Paul Choy

Electrician

Jakub Hejduk

Digital Imaging Technician

Iain Canning

Producer

Guy Heeley

Producer

James Hawes

Director

Emile Sherman

Producer

Joanna Laurie

Producer

Nick Drake

Screenplay

Lucinda Coxon

Screenplay

Alex Stuart

Editorial Staff

Paul Snell

First Assistant "C" Camera

Chris Lyons

Special Effects Makeup Artist

Reviews

Manuel São Bento

⭐ 8/10

October 13, 2023

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://fandomwire.com/one-life-bfi-london-film-festival-review-a-must-watch-important-wwii-story/

"One Life is yet another important story from WWII that deserves to be seen on the big screen.

Despite not breaking genre barriers, it unfolds its narrative in a captivating manner, packed with devastating, bittersweet moments, but also filled with wonderful depictions of altruism, humanitarian sacrifice, and hope, c… read the rest.

CinemaSerf

⭐ 7/10

January 11, 2024

Johnny Flynn performs quite well here as the young stockbroker Nicholas Winton who arrives in Prague just as the Nazis annexe the Sudetenland. He is horrified by the child poverty that he sees and decides, perhaps naively, to work with his British Refugee Council colleagues to try and expedite their removal to a safer and altogether earthier environment. Fortunately, his mother Babette (Helena Bonham Carter), herself from immigrant stock, is no slouch when it comes to doorstepping officials in Whitehall and soon has convinced the authorities to agree a fast-track mechanism that will enable him to get the children back to the UK provided they have guaranteed foster homes and the fairly massive sum of £50 as a guarantee. He returns to London and a massive public awareness/fundraising campaign ensues - as do eight trains carrying over six hundred children to safety. We are told this story via a series of flashbacks from the modern day Winton (Sir Anthony Hopkins) who now lives peacefully with his wife Greta (Lena Olin) in Berkshire. He is perusing a scrapbook he has left in a drawer for forty-odd years in which he has photographs and details of many of those passengers on the "Kinder" trains. His friend from back then (Jonathan Pryce) manages to put him in touch with Betty Maxwell - the wife of the wealthy publisher Robert, and next thing he is on British television's most popular "That's Life" programme that regularly reached 18 million people on a Sunday evening. This appearance poignantly introduces him to one survivor, his next sees that snowball into some sixty or so who owed their life and liberty to the efforts of Winton and his colleagues - whom he is always very clear to ensure are never forgotten. I recall watching this programme back in the day and the dramatisation is no less moving than the original broadcast. Sir Anthony offers us a considered performance - demonstrating a shy family man who rejects the trappings of fuss and celebrity because he sees his behaviour as nothing special. Doing the right thing. His efforts are touching and understated and nicely dovetail with the rather pushy and forthright Bonham Carter fighting tooth and nail against red tape in 1939. As an insight to Nazi tyranny it also works subtly. We see very little actual violence, but we see a squalor and hopelessness that robs the soul of hope as depressingly as the situation robs their stomachs of food. The film looks good and is sparingly scripted allowing our own imagination to do much of the thinking here.

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r96sk

⭐ 8/10

January 19, 2024

A touching picture featuring Anthony Hopkins.

<em>'One Life'</em> is <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/schindlers-list/" rel="nofollow">Schindler's List</a>'</em>-esque, though perhaps more of a grounded portrayal of such events without the proper Hollywood-ness drama that that aforementioned flick holds; no hate on that sensational Steven Spielberg production by any means, it's a far better film in fact. This 2023 release is very hear… read the rest.

Brent Marchant

⭐ 6/10

March 27, 2024

For some of us, there’s no stopping when it comes to seeing through on a mission of vital importance. So it was in 1938, when a dedicated English stockbroker selflessly enabled the successful escape of 669 children (mostly Jewish) from Prague not long after the Third Reich “annexed” Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland region, the first step toward Germany’s invasion of the country and the eventual onset of World War II. British-born Nicholas Winton (Anthony Hopkins), the descendant of German Jewish ancestors, and members of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia both on the ground and in London worked tirelessly against seemingly impossible odds to facilitate the youngsters’ flight to freedom. In particular, Winton’s younger self (Johnny Flynn) and his determined mother (Helena Bonham Carter) battled a reluctant British bureaucracy, intolerant prejudicial attitudes and border-crossing obstacles to arrange protective train transport across Europe to secure the safety of the young refugees. But, for all of Winton’s successes, he felt remorse that he was unable to do more, especially when he looked back on what he accomplished 40 years after the fact. Thankfully, his efforts didn’t go unnoticed, at last receiving the recognition for what he did, earning him the gratitude of the survivors and the honors of a grateful nation, in essence becoming the UK’s counterpart to Oskar Schindler. Director James Hawes tells a compelling story in his debut feature film, though the execution, regrettably, could use some shoring up, especially in the film’s sluggishly paced, overly talky and occasionally meandering opening half. The picture’s back end, however, considerably makes up for these deficiencies, evoking genuine, well-earned, heartfelt emotions, qualities that could have made for a better release overall if they had been employed more fully earlier on. This is largely made possible by the powerful performances of Hopkins, Flynn, Bonham Carter and a host of supporting players, along with fine period piece production values. “One Life” ultimately delivers a message that we could all stand to hear more often, not only in supporting monumental undertakings like those depicted here, but also in being giving of ourselves in general, no matter how great or small the efforts or ventures might be. The world would certainly be a better place for doing so – and for the work of the Nicholas Wintons that reside within all of us.

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tmdb51616167

⭐ 9/10

September 10, 2024

#MovieReview #OneLifeMovie

Deciding to watch "One Life" with a group of young boys turned out to be a challenge, as they were not keen on sitting through a historical film. Despite the initial hesitation, the movie proved to be a captivating true story that left a lasting impact.

The film follows the remarkable journey of a man from England who lived to the age of 106 and dedicated his life to a refugee rescue mission, saving nearly 700 chi… read the rest.