THE British Film Festival has brought together a solid collection of historical biographies. Three of the most compelling are One Life starring Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn, who both play humanitarian Nicholas Winton. The fantastic Helen Mirren convincingly portrays former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir in Golda, while The Great Escapist is another historical flip between past and present with Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson.
One Life
IN 1938 as Hitler is making a move through Europe, Nicholas Winton is a London stockbroker who gets called to recently annexed Prague to help with the Jewish refugees.
Finding the dire situation of an approaching winter and thousands of homeless families and children who’ve fled Germany and Austria, Winton is compelled to help save the children, fearing many might starve or perish in the cold.
With the help of his tenacious mother (Helen Bonham Carter) and a team in Prague, Winton raises finances to bring the children by train to foster homes in England, before the Nazis bring an end to the scheme.
An older Winton (Hopkins) is racked with guilt over the children he could not save, until he is invited 50 years later to be in the audience of That’s Life and is reunited with some of the survivors.
It’s an emotionally charged scene as he meets the adults he saved when they were children, bringing tears to my eyes; I still get goosebumps talking about the film.
The audience stayed seated and silent, and you could hear a pin drop even as the credits rolled.
4.5/5 chickens
Golda
GOLD MEIR (Helen Mirren) was Israel’s fourth prime minister (1969-1974) when a surprise attack during Ramadan in 1973 sparked the 19-day Yom Kippur War, testing her tenacity and trust of her defence chiefs.
I found it a little hard to navigate through the build-up as a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria forms with the intention of invading Israel.
The movie starts with Meir’s 1974 testimony before the Agranat commission, which grilled her over the events of October 6 the year before and her conduct during the war. I found the scene a bit hit and miss, as I didn’t understand the commission and what was happening.
Israel’s defence minister had reassured Meir the country’s renowned spy service had bugged the Egyptians and would have plenty of time to prepare for an invasion. The bug hadn’t been turned on, resulting in great losses to their army, but Meir shoulders the blame at the commission.
Her friendship with US secretary of state Henry Kissinger (Liev Schreiber) is under pressure as she fighter jets to plug a shortage in Israel’s airforce. Kissinger visits Meir to convince her to sign a peace treaty, however she proceeds with her defence which finally forces Egypt into talks.
While Meir is making these hard decisions of state, she is also undergoing treatment for lymphoma with the support from her trusted aide Lou Kadder (Camille Cottin). Her life ends as she watches her footage of peace talks with the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
Written by Nicholas Martin and directed by Guy Nattiv using archival footage of the real Golda Meir, I was amazed at how fantastic Helen portrayed the PM, right down to her stoop, thick ankles squashed into her famous shoes and her nicotine-stained fingers.
3.5/5 chickens
The Great Escaper
THIS film is based on the true story of World War II navy veteran Bernard Jordan (Michael Caine), whose goes on the lam from his care home where he lives with his wife Rene, (a formidable Glenda Jackson) to attend the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in France.
The film flicks through past and present to weave together the story of true love and ageing.
Bernard missed out on the formal trip to France but with the cheekily-implied permission from Rene, he skips out of the Care home in the early hours to catch the ferry across to France with a small shopping bag of possessions, medals hidden under his raincoat and no bed for the night.
• The Great Escaper is Michael Caine’s final film, announcing his retirement shortly after its release.
In the bar on the ferry, he meets a fellow traveller, Arthur (John Standing), who befriends Bernard, includes him in his group and shares his room once he realises Bernard does not have a booking.
Meanwhile back at the care home Rene’s health is deteriorating but she continues to deflect staff concerns for the missing Bernard.
When a police search is launched, the media get hold of the story and camp outside her home, lionising Bernard as the Great Escaper, much to her chagrin.
Probably the most touching scene was when Bernard and Arthur meet some old German soldiers in the bar and forgiveness is expressed by giving up their prime seats.
As Octogenarians, Michael and Glenda are amazing to still be acting with these terrific performances although Jackson died not long after filming and Caine has announced his retirement from acting at 90 years old.
3.8/5 chickens
by PAULA HOLLAND