One Life

2023

Action / Biography / Drama / History / War

64
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 98% · 150 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 98% · 250 ratings
IMDb Rating 7.5/10 10 38190 38.2K

nazi world war ii deportation czechoslovakia biography train

Plot summary

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 Photo
James Hawes

Top cast

Helena Bonham Carter Photo
Helena Bonham Carter as Babette Winton
Anthony Hopkins Photo
Anthony Hopkins as Nicholas Winton
Adrian Rawlins Photo
Adrian Rawlins as Geoff
Jonathan Pryce Photo
Jonathan Pryce as Martin Blake
720p.BluRay 720p.WEB 1080p.BluRay 1080p.WEB 1080p.WEB 2160p.WEB
1004.33 MB
1280*582
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us   ro  
24 fps
1 hr 49 min
Seeds 12
1002.98 MB
1280*582
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us   ro  
23.976 fps
1 hr 49 min
Seeds 25
2.01 GB
1920*872
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us   ro  
24 fps
1 hr 49 min
Seeds 18
2.01 GB
1920*872
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us   ro  
23.976 fps
1 hr 49 min
Seeds 100
1.82 GB
1920*872
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us   ro  
23.976 fps
1 hr 49 min
Seeds 29
4.87 GB
3840*2160
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
N/A
Seeds 30

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Sleepin_Dragon 10 / 10

A captivating movie.

The true story of Sir Nicholas Winton, who was responsible for evacuating over 600 children from Czechoslovakia, which was on the verge of Nazi invasion.This is a truly outstanding film, one of the best I've seen in a while, for my shame I had no idea if Nicholas Winton's story until this film, it promoted me to dig deeper, what a fascinating, brave man.Beautifully produced, and not just the visuals, of course it looked amazing, but the tone and feel of the movie was perfect. At times I honestly felt like I was watching something by Stephen Poliakoff, someone who truly does know how to move the viewers.BBC films, proof that The BBC still has the ability to deliver incredible quality, when it focuses on actual storytelling, this was like something made from yesteryear.Sir Anthony Hopkins delivers yet another masterclass, his scenes at the That's Life studio were incredible, Hopkins was matched by an equally captivating performance from Johnny Flynn, fabulous.Intensely moving, I saw many tears at the cinema, a very powerful story, a true act of selfless bravery.Wonderful.10/10.
Reviewed by garethcrook 9 / 10

Thank god for people like Nicolas Winton.

I've been on a bit of a spree of Jewish themed films of late, trying to inject a bit of hope in between the inevitable darkness. Going from Shoah to Yentl and The Zone of Interest to One Life, which I think will likely bridge the horror with some lasting positivity... hopefully. I say this, as like many, I'm aware of Nicolas Winton from his appearance on That's Life! A stunning piece of television that will stick with anyone who remembers it being broadcast. I was very young though and I'm sure there's more to the story than I recall. Winton was a man who saw what the Nazis were up to, whilst many were covering their eyes and was moved to do something. That something was the Kindertransport or more accurately an extension of it. One Life is based on his true story and it doesn't shy on the details. We first meet an older Nicolas (Anthony Hopkins), doddering perhaps, slowing down a little but still motivated to help. Haunted by his past. You don't unsee the things he's seen. As he stares into a darkened window, we drift back to the 30s, where he's played by Johnny Flynn, trying to convince his mother (Helena Bonham Carter) that it's a good idea for him to travel to Czechoslovakia to help the refugees from the advancing Nazis. Flynn not only portrays Winton magnificently, he also feels perfectly in step with Hopkins. He's a bit of a chameleon. Nicolas though isn't on the surface. He's a well to do stockbroker. A desk man. Head in paperwork type. The harsh Prague winter is not what he was prepared for, but he learns quickly that without help, these displaced people have been forgotten by the system. The British government is not helping Czechoslovakians. When Nicolas is quizzed as to his motives, what skin he has in the game. His response is gripping. Heartfelt, unwavering, determined and spine tingling. The scenes of people saying goodbye at train stations, children with numbers on cardboard around their necks are intercut with the bureaucracy that Nicolas, friends and his mother navigate with steely determination as a score of thick string and piano laden melancholy fills the score. It's this drive/melancholy that defines Nicolas. The drive is his nature, the melancholy what he's left with when there's time think. It's this time that dictates older Nicolas's life. He realises there's sadly still a lesson to be learnt. This timeline isn't perhaps as fraught and terrifying, but it's what lead to that TV moment, this film and Anthony Hopkins reducing me to tears. The pace is kept up by jumping between Hopkins and Flynn in the eras of his life, where although some things have changed, the focus hasn't. It's not an easy watch, amazing as it is what they're doing, as Babi Winton (Bonham Carter) says "Nicky, you must know you can't save them all". What a world we live in. Where this happened and still the danger persists. Thank god for people like Nicolas Winton. A magnificent story brought about by the evil that people are capable of.
Read more IMDb reviews

29 Comments

Be the first to leave a comment