You don’t need to be a film buff to know that the movie world can’t get enough of World War II stories. Considering that the Historical event touched the lives of so many people, it’s not surprising that we’ve still got plenty of untold stories that often pop up from every angle. This time, the war drama One Life will tell the true story of a British man who managed to save hundreds of children as the Nazis started to take over Czechoslovakia, as Deadline reveals.
The movie is based on the life of stockbroker Nicholas Winton, who helmed a dangerous mission that had little chance of working but came out the other side with 699 safe children that could otherwise end up dead under the Nazi regime. The title, One Life, is a reference to the Jewish Talmud that suggests you can save the whole world if you manage to save a single life. So Winton pretty much saved the world a couple of times over in the early 40s.
Helena Bonham Carter (Harry Potter film series) is set to play Babi Winton, the mother of Nicholas in the movie sections that will depict his younger years. The young Winton is set to be played by Johnny Flynn (Clouds of Sils Maria). The star-studded cast also includes Academy Award Winner Anthony Hopkins (The Father), Lena Olin (Hunters) as Winton’s wife Grete, Jonathan Pryce (Game of Thrones), Ramola Garai (Becoming Elizabeth), and Alex Sharp (The Trial of the Chicago 7) as operatives who helped move the massive quantity of kids into safety.
The movie is based on the book If It’s Not Impossible…The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton, which was written by the title character’s daughter Barbara Winton. One Life will be directed by James Hawes, who helmed one of Black Mirror’s most acclaimed episodes, “Hated in the Nation”. He also directed the entire first season of Apple TV+ thriller series Slow Horses. With One Life, Hawes is set to make his feature film directing debut.
Dubbed “the British Oskar Schindler”, Winton had his story told by BBC in a 1998 episode of That’s Life, which recently went viral. In the episode, Winton himself was surprised by the fact that the audience featured people whose lives had been directly affected by the man’s actions.
via Collider