ARTS&LIFE
MOVIE REVIEW
W
hen contemplating
the hideous details of
the Holocaust, argu-
ably the worst crime in human
history, many of us wonder what
we would have done in the face of
such inhumanity (or if we would
have done anything at all). Those
brave souls who did act in defiance
of the atrocity were all too few.
One of the few was Nicholas
Winton, a young stockbroker in
London who found himself in
Prague in 1938 and was witness to
a refugee settlement in the middle
of the city teaming with Jews from
the Sudentenland (the portion of
Czechoslovakia attained by the
Nazis in 1938).
The number of desperate Jews
also included thousands from
elsewhere in Europe. And though
they have fled Nazi-occupied
Czechoslovakia, Hitler’s acquisi-
tion of the rest of Czechoslovakia
(including Prague) is inevitable.
One Life tells the story of 669
Jewish children rescued from
Prague due to Winton’s dogged
persistence. The young Winton
(played by Johnny Flynn), in
1938, decides to assist the chil-
dren at risk in Prague, and the
elder Winton (played by Anthony
Hopkins) struggles with his mem-
ories at home in England in 1987.
Hopkins is in a viable position
to be nominated for two Oscars
in the same season (Freud’s Last
Session being the actor’s earlier
work). Of course, Hopkins is
a great actor who can always
deliver a masterful performance.
But Flynn shows greatness in the
movie, too, and he is certain to be
mentioned in the next round of
Oscar nominations.
Young Winton has to struggle
with agencies in both Prague
and London to arrange for the
mass movement of the chil-
dren. Passports must be provided,
foster homes in England must be
available, pictures of the children
must be taken, and monetary
deposits are required for what is
perceived as the eventual return
of the children to their families.
This is just prior to the
Nazi onslaught on the rest of
Czechoslovakia and before the
Nazi invasion of Poland on Sept.
1, 1939 (war having been declared
on Germany by Britain and
France two days later). It was at
this point of war that the Nazis
closed the Czech borders, and the
movie provides a horrifying scene
of Jewish children being dragged
off the trains by German soldiers.
The young Winton was in
Prague at the time the borders
were closed, and the elder Winton
remembers the day with haunting
sadness and dubs the incident as
that of the “last train.
” The elder
Winton has also kept a scrapbook
that chronicles his time in Prague
and the events pertinent to the
children who were saved and
those who were not saved.
As the elder Winton grapples
with guilt over the children who
weren’t saved, those of the last
train, attempts are made by family
and friends to encourage him to
relinquish his guilt and take pride
in those lives he had saved.
But that is easier said than
done, especially by someone like
Winton who has such high expec-
tations of himself.
Reminiscent of the young
Winton’s frustrations with the
bureaucracies of London and
Prague, the elder Winton is
frustrated by the indifference
shown by the editor of the small
English town newspaper who
is unmoved by the potential for
human interest generated by the
scrapbook. But the BBC comes
upon the story of Winton and his
scrapbook and contacts him to do
a feature.
BBC interest leads to the scrap-
book being aired on a television
show called That’s Life. Winton
is made part of the audience and
introduced to a woman who was
one of the children saved. The
publicity results in a wealth of peo-
ple coming forward who had been
among the children Winton saved,
and a second airing is conducted
on That’s Life in which a multitude
of those saved by Winton are pres-
ent in the audience.
End of the movie credits indi-
cate an estimate of 6,000 lives
having resulted from the 669
lives Winton saved. Winton is
moved to tears when he meets
those whom he had saved. Those
watching One Life are also bound
to be moved to tears as well.
John O’Neill is an Allen Park freelance
writer. He contributes frequent essays
and reviews to MediaNews Group.
One Life is the Story
of Thousands of Lives
JOHN O’NEILL SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
82 | MARCH 28 • 2024
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IMDB