Moves you to tears: Why it’s worth bringing tissues to the premiere of “One Life” starring Anthony Hopkins

Today, on February 15, the TV series “One Life” starring Anthony Hopkins and Helena Bonham Carter is released. This is the true story of the “English Schindler” Sir Nicholas Winton. This man did something incredible; He saved the lives of 669 children who would have faced certain death at the hands of the Nazis.

A lot has been filmed and written about the Second World War, but sometimes you are surprised how precisely such touching stories remain “behind the scenes” and wait in the wings for so long to reach the audience. There will be no canonical conflict between good and evil: there will be no bloody leader, no sadistic killer, no torture, no horrors of concentration camps. After all, evil, as in life, is often unattainable and even happens every day, so an ordinary person is faced with only its consequences.

So the main character – an ordinary broker Nicholas Winton (played at a young age by Johnny Flynn, at a mature age – by Anthony Hopkins) – at the request of a friend, came to Prague for a week to help refugees. The Sudetenland, which had already come under the control of Hitler’s government. The Briton was shocked by the conditions at the makeshift camp for children thrown onto the streets, especially during the cold winter months. Their parents were either killed or sent to labor camps. There were so many homeless children that Winton’s heart sank and he decided to help them and find temporary families. The lack of documents to cross the border further complicated the matter.

While watching, we will see a real bureaucratic hell that the hero will have to go through. What can one person do against the ruthless state machine? It turned out to be a lot. Nicholas Winton doesn’t wear superhero tights and calls himself a “regular guy,” but we understand that nothing would have worked out without his character and determination.

It seems those who say that difficult times breed strong people are right. After all, knowing the law and finding a foster family is not enough. We need to collect all the documents and convince the rich to sponsor a rescue operation to transport the children from Prague to London. And this must be done secretly, in full view of the Gestapo! In ordinary life, officers close the doors if at least one mistake is found in the documents. What can we say about people’s behavior in such an unusual situation?

Even the receiving party – the UK Refugee Committee – at first merely shrugs sympathetically and is reluctant to undertake a task that is initially unavoidable. It’s not that people don’t feel sorry for the children, but no one wants to make sacrifices. How did a simple man with glasses manage to break their skepticism? And here he realizes how much his mother figure, played by the ironic and determined Helena Bonham Carter, has influenced him. It was this strong woman who provided significant assistance in this regard and managed to touch the hearts of the bureaucrats.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to save all the children: the last Kindertransport was detained. And this realization would haunt Nicholas Winton for the rest of his life. After all, good people do not keep account of good deeds and always blame themselves for what they could have done but did not have time. Looking back, it seems to him that more could have been done, but of course it was unprecedented for children to reach the shores of Great Britain. What prompted Hopkins’ character to appear on television 50 years later and tell this story? It’s not a desire for fame. After all, she’ll soon have a grandchild of her own, and her own daughter doesn’t seem too keen on meeting her father. After all, today is his day. But his desire to tell the story to future generations fills his life with meaning. That’s why it’s important for Nicholas Winton to meet children who have been rescued, grown up and have children of their own.

Winton’s behavior is admirable. In Russian history, the partisan detachments of the Belsky and Kiselev brothers, who also carried out rescue operations in the ghetto, come to mind. So how many such stories are there waiting to be heard? After all, these people took risks not for the sake of ambition, but out of simple love for humanity.