“If something is not impossible, then there must be a way to do it…” Sir Nicholas Winton, 1909 – 2015
Opening tomorrow, March 15, ONE LIFE—the film based on the book, If It’s Not Impossible…: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton, written by his daughter Barbara Winton—tells the incredible, emotional true story of Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Winton who, along with a small team of brave people, rescued 669 children from Prague in the time leading up to the Nazi invasion of Poland.
A BBC FILM and MBK PRODUCTIONS, CROSS CITY FILMS, FILMNATION ENTERTAINMENT, LIPSYNC, a SEE-SAW FILMS Production, in association with Bleeker Street Media, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, ONE LIFE is directed by James Hawes and stars the multiple award-winning cast of Sir Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Helena Bonham Carter, Lena Olin, Alex Sharp, and Romola Garai.
About ONE LIFE
Nicholas Winton (Flynn) is a young London broker who visits Prague in December 1938. In a race against time, Winton convinces Trevor Chadwick (Sharp) and Doreen Warriner (Garai) of the British Committee for Refugees in Czechoslovakia to rescue hundreds of predominantly Jewish children before Nazi occupation closes the borders. Fifty years later, Nicky (Hopkins) is haunted by the fate of the children he wasn’t able to bring to safety in England. It’s not until the BBC show “That’s Life!” re-introduces him to some of those he helped rescue that Winton finally begins to come to terms with the guilt and grief he carried – all the while skyrocketing from anonymity to a national hero.
From the script, the acting, the directing, and all of the production values, ONE LIFE is a stunning masterpiece, both on—and off—the camera.
Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake’s intricately-written script follows Nicholas Winton from 1987—collecting pennies and donating to charities—to 1938, racing to do whatever is necessary to save the children.
The extraordinary cast is led by Sir Anthony Hopkins as older Winton. He portrays Winton as a quiet man living an ordinary life with his wife Grete (Lena Olin) and their family. When Greta urges him to clean out decades-old paperwork from his office, Hopkins’s portrayal shifts to a man who has spent the last 50 years not simply remembering what he—and those who worked with him—were able to accomplish, but struggling with the memories of the children they were not able to rescue.
Johnny Flynn played younger Winton. His near perfect copy of Hopkins’ facial expressions, body movements, and speech patterns made his portrayal of Winton a passionate and intense young man, determined to do whatever it takes to help others.
Helena Bonham Carter portrayed Babi Winton—Nicky’s mother and herself a former Jewish refugee—as a strong and passionate woman. She was a no-nonsense tower of steel meeting with the British authorities to get the visas, the paperwork, the money, the approval needed for Nicky to bring these children to England.
Romola Garai and Alex Sharp were Doreen Warriner and Trevor Chadwich, two others of the team committed to moving the children from Poland to England. Garia portrayed Warriner as a smart and savvy whose work in Poland was to move political refugees but expanded her mission to include the children. When Sharp learned the real Chadwick had performed sleight of hand tricks to entertain the refuge children while on the trains, he learned tricks for those scenes.
In his feature film debut, James Haws skillfully faced the formidable task of directing a 33-day shoot, across two countries and two time periods, working with two crews in two languages. The result of his labor was a flawless film of heart and soul.
The rest of production part of ONE LIFE—from photography, set design, sound, costumes, hair, and makeup—brought the people and places in 1987 and 1938 to life. The film was shot on the authentic Prague locations, including filming on the actual station platform where the children said goodbye to their families before departing for England.
While set in pre-World War II, ONE LIFE was more than just a war era story. As Sir Anthony Hopkins is quoted as describing, “It’s about several people, not just one man – saving the lives of children who are about to be consumed into the gas chambers and furnaces of Auschwitz, Treblinka, and Belsen.”
It is estimated that over 6,000 people are alive today because of the Prague rescue.
For those who have been impacted by a terrible situation and thought, “Who am I? I can’t make a difference,” ONE LIFE is a must see.
With a running time of 109 minutes, ONE LIFE is rated PG for thematic material, smoking, and some language.
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