Having just seen Nuremberg and borne witness to the atrocities committed by the Nazis I thought it would be a good time to see a slightly more positive view of that era, so I watched One Life, a British drama about a movement to save young children from the onrushing Nazi danger they faced in Czechoslovakia before World War II officially began.  It is an inspiring story, more emotional than the more intellectual Nuremberg, and less shattering than the similarly-themed Schindler’s List.

James Hawes’ drama introduces us to elderly Nicholas Winton (Anthony Hopkins), a man in his retirement who cannot help thinking about his younger self, when he traveled to Prague to help an effort to rescue Czechoslovakian children struggling to survive in 1938.  Young Nicky (Johnny Flynn) spearheads the effort to legally find foster parents for the kids and transport them to England until the danger has passed.  He is somewhat successful, and then the war begins in earnest.  Thirty-some years later, Nicholas cannot help but wonder whatever became of those kids — and the ones who failed to reach England on that final train.

Based on real people and events, this story was a natural to film once it came to light, and the movie depicts exactly how it finally came to light.  That’s an interesting aspect, and that part of the story is milked for all it is worth, eventually.  It depicts Winton as an unlikely hero, a person never comfortable in the spotlight.  It’s also the softer side of the narrative and not nearly as dramatic or forceful as the situation in Prague and in London, seen in numerous flashbacks.  The real power of this story lies in the past, with some ordinary people who displayed extraordinary tenacity and effort to help others, at the risk of their own freedom.

The emotional payoff, which comes when the Winton story is broadcast on British television in 1973, is genuine and serves to nicely wrap up the proceedings.  Yet the film doesn’t fully explore how Winton was seemingly haunted by his greatest adventure.  One only gets glimpses into his psyche, which indicates that the year or so in which he was so determined to help others was the high point of his existence, a time for which he often not just thinks about but relives through memory because nothing in his current life can measure up to the importance and intensity of that brief time.  At least, that’s how I read it, and I wish the film would have explored that side of the equation more than it does.  Still, this is a good movie, with good acting throughout, and definitely worth watching.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  9 November 2025.