Sometimes a sudden change in plan can change one’s life. In the case of Nicholas Winton, a young London-based stockbroker, his plan change from skiing in Switzerland to Prague changed the lives of nearly 700 Jews. The reason for his Prague visit was to assist his friend Martin Blake with welfare work, but seeing the condition of the refugee camp and interacting with the displaced Czech kids there profoundly impacted him. Most people would likely be affected by the suffering of fellow humans, but few would actually do something about it.

Based on a book by Winton’s own daughter Barbara Winton called If It’s Not Impossible…: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton, the story is adapted to the screen by Lucinda Coxon & Nick Drake. It starts with Sir Nicholas (Sir Anthony Hopkins), Nicky to his family/friends, living a quiet life in his late 70s with his wife Greta (Lena Olin). Grete laments that Nicky is a bit of a hoarder, as evident in his overcrowded office filled with books, piles of boxes of files and papers, etc., and a leather briefcase stuck in a drawer which we later learn of its significance.

The film then transports us to December 1938 when 29-year-old Nicky (Johnny Flynn) is talking with his mother Babette (Helena Bonham Carter) shortly before his supposed skiing trip. Winton’s change of heart in that refugee camp is a pivotal moment set up beautifully by director James Hawes, boosted by Flynn’s compelling performance. The scene of him sharing a piece of chocolate with a bunch of kids got me all teary-eyed immediately, it’s a catalyst to the hero’s 9-month humanitarian journey.

Though Winton is credited with organizing the rescue of 669 Czech children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, the film rightly highlights the many other heroes, as well as unsung ones (played by Romola Garai and Alex Sharp, among others) who helped in transporting and finding new homes in the UK for those kids. The office raid and multiple train station scenes are gripping and suspenseful, especially as some of the kids traveled with fake IDs in the race against time before the Gestapo ransacked the city.

Dubbed the British Oskar Schindler by the UK press, the staggering similarity between the two is not just that they’re ordinary people who did extraordinary heroic things, but that they don’t see themselves as heroes. There’s a famous line in Schindler’s List where he lamented ‘I could’ve got more out… I could’ve saved more’ and that’s exactly how Winton felt as well, that he focused more on those he could not save.

It wasn’t until 50 years later that Winton reunited with some of those children during the BBC television show That’s Life!, largely thanks to Elizabeth Maxwell, Holocaust historian and the wife of media mogul Robert Maxwell who brought his story into the public domain. It’s a tear-jerker moment, but the quieter moments of the elder Winton sobbing in his backyard, or the younger Winton with a young Czech girl and a baby is equally gut-punching.

The legendary Anthony Hopkins rarely makes an acting misstep, and his performance here is wonderfully layered and heart-wrenching. He’s mostly solemn here, peppered with brilliantly-timed moments of levity. Flynn perfectly complements Hopkins as the younger Winton and proves he’s more versatile than meets the eye. I always love seeing Bonham Carter in movies, her role as Winton’s formidable mother is small but crucial, and it’s amusing to hear her sport a slight German accent. Apparently, the story is a personal one for Carter who’s of Austrian Jewish heritage, as her grandparents also helped plenty of Jewish people with visas to leave Europe during Nazi occupation.

Hawes did a wonderful job bringing Sir Winton’s inspiring story to life, the film is well-paced and the back-and-forth between the two timeless is done seamlessly. Love the gorgeous cinematography by Zac Nicholson, and Volker Bertelmann’s string-heavy score is appropriately soul-stirring. The storytelling style is more conventional but that’s not necessarily a bad thing given how extraordinary the subject matter is. In a sea of biopics, especially those involving the Holocaust, this is one that absolutely deserves to be told. Its US release can’t come at a more tumultuous time with the devastating Israel-Hamas war and a disturbing trend towards Holocaust denial. In a world where a self-centered worldview is increasingly prevalent, we need more stories of ordinary people who achieve the impossible because they care for and put others first. Benevolence is timeless.

Have you seen ONE LIFE? I’d love to hear what you think!

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