‘Winton’s Children’
Manager: James Hawes
Artists: Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Helena Bonham Carter
Drama
Year: 2023
Premiere: 03/22/24
★★
‘Winton’s Children’ is cinema from another time, and this is all the more so in a time when films like ‘Anatomy of a Fall’, ‘Poor Creatures’ or ‘Place of Interest’ are all very modern in different ways. They take people to the movies. Partly on the contrary, classicism was at every level on which it bet (in narrative, in artistic direction, in staging). James Hawes makes his movie feel old and boring.
Focused on the true story of Nicholas WintonBritish businessman who saved hundreds of children from dying at the hands of the Nazis by taking them from Czechoslovakia by train. The film recreates this historical event in a traditional and perhaps overly didactic way.. Its two-time structure (past and present), its formal proposal, or its way of dosing emotional peaks contain no mystery or surprise. Still, it is an unquestionably effective film in terms of its classicism and explanatory clarity.. Also in its emotional scope. Competent direction, careful artistic direction (the recreations of different periods are convincing, even elegant) and above all their commentary contribute to this. Anthony Hopkins is great as the old Wintonespecially in the film’s most iconic scenes, scenes that recreate actual broadcasts of a television programme.