One Life (12A)

The screening on Sat 3 Feb at 7.30pm and Thu 8 Feb at 2pm will have descriptive subtitles. The screening on Thu 8 Feb at 2pm will be relaxed for people living with dementia.

Based upon the true story of British humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton as he looks back on his past efforts to help groups of Jewish children in German-occupied Czechoslovakia to hide and flee in 1938–39, just before the beginning of World War II.

When 29-year-old London stockbroker Nicholas Winton visits Czechoslovakia in 1938, just weeks after the Munich Agreement was agreed, he encounters families in Prague who had fled the rise of the Nazis in Germany and Austria. They were living in poor living conditions, with little or no shelter or food, and had to fear the invasion of the Nazis. There Winton is introduced to Doreen Warriner, head of the Prague office of the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia (BCRC). Horrified by the conditions in the refugee camps, Winton decides to save Jewish children himself. Actively supported by his mother Babette, herself a German-Jewish migrant who has since converted to the Church of England, he overcomes bureaucratic hurdles, collects donations, and looks for foster families for the children brought to England. Many of them are Jews who are at imminent risk of deportation. A race against time begins as it is unclear how long the borders will remain open before the inevitable Nazi invasion.

Fifty years later, on Christmas in 1988, when Winton was in his 70s, he cleaned up some of the clutter in his office, which his wife Grete asked him to do. He finds his old documents in which he recorded his work for the BCRC, with photos and lists of the children they wanted to bring to safety. Winton still blamed himself for not being able to save more. At lunch with his old friend Martin, Winton thinks about what he should do with all the documents. He is considering donating them to a Holocaust museum, but at the same time he wants to draw some attention to the current plight of refugees, so he doesn’t do it.

‘Sir Anthony Hopkins is extraordinary’ – Sunday Express

‘If you don’t cry at this beautiful tribute you need medical help’ – The Standard

‘Anthony Hopkins and Johnny Flynn Spotlight the Selfless Deeds of ‘the British Schindler’ – Variety

Director- James Hawes

Cast- Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham-Carter, Johnny Flynn

• Information about screenings with descriptive subtitles

  Descriptive subtitles, sometimes referred to as subtitles for D/deaf and hard-of-hearing people or captions, transcribe dialogue and relevant aspects of the soundtrack, including music and sound effects, attempting to give D/deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers an equal experience to those who can watch films without descriptive subtitles. Descriptive subtitles would include speech identifiers and descriptive elements such as [door slamming] and [kettle whistling].

• Seating accessibility information

  Cinema

  Seat size

  Seats in the Cinema are 45cm (172/3“) wide and 46cm (18“) deep, are 40cm (152/3“) from the floor, and have 12cm (42/3“) between seats.

  Armrests

  Seats in the Cinema have armrests that do not fold away, and cannot be completely removed.

  Legroom

  Seats in the cinema have 30cm (112/3”) of legroom in front of seats, with additional legroom on row A and seats B1-B4 and B11-B14.

  Further information

  If you have any questions about accessibility our Box Office team are always happy to help and can be contacted on 01642 525199 or by emailing [email protected] - you can also tell us about your access requirements when prompted to do so during the online booking process.

• BBFC rating information (may contain spoilers)

  Violence

  We see Nazi soldiers roughly detaining and manhandling Jewish adults and children, without visible injury detail. There are brief and non-graphic verbal references to Jewish people having been shot, tortured, or imprisoned and murdered in concentration camps by the Nazis.

  Threat and horror

  Distressed and frightened Jewish civilians, including young children, are shown being arrested by Nazi soldiers or prevented from boarding a train to safety during infrequent scenes of moderate threat.

  Language

  Bad language includes ‘bastard’, ‘bollocking’, ‘shit’, ‘bloody’, ‘damn’, ‘Christ’ and ‘God’.

  Discrimination

  There are non-graphic references to the persecution and murder of Jewish people by the Nazis. A person assisting child refugees receives a letter that reads ‘Refujews go home’, which she immediately burns. In another scene, a Nazi soldier makes a disparaging comment about Jewish children. The film carries a clear anti-discrimination message.

  Suicide

  A man tells a short anecdote containing non-graphic references to a woman experiencing suicidal ideation; however, the story has a happy ending.

  Theme

  There are occasional upsetting scenes. For example, scenes set in a Czech refugee camp during winter contain a brief image of a woman weeping beside a small bundle implied to be her baby, who has died. Other scenes show parents and children saying emotional goodbyes as the children are evacuated from Czechoslovakia.