It’s a story many British people know from the 1980s That’s Life programme, where unknown to Nicolas Winton , the grown up children he helped to save from the war ravaged Czech lands during the war, surrounded him as he sat in the audience, and with quiet nobility made themselves known to him by standing quietly.
It was a moment , in a usually tacky tv programme that lingers long in the minds by whoever saw it, for it was strong, moving and immensely dignified .
Following the film, I went to the new Asian supermarket in Chester Market to buy pancakes for Chrispy duck, gochujang paste and ramen noodles as well as some tikka pies from the deli next door
In the end of One Life , this scene is reenacted as the story is told of Winton and his wartime efforts to secure the release of over 660 Jewish children by beavering behind the lines in London, securing visas, sorting out foster parents and raising money alongside his forthright, powerhouse mother Babette ) Helen Bonhem Carter in fine form)
We see the idealistic and self effacing Winton ( Johnny Flynn) grappling with the numbers of children he had to leave behind and despite the wise pragmatism shown by his mother, this anxiety and grief never left the older Winton (downplayed nicely by Anthony Hopkins) and only in his 80s , after meeting the first of “ his children” on That’s Life does the old man let his guard down and in one tear jerking scene sobs uncontrollably for the children he couldn’t save.
It’s a gentle film and highlights beautifully the work ordinary heroes did during wartime.
The real Winton on That’s Life
Hey ho
