September 26, 2024
FILM: LEE
DIRECTED BY: ELLEN KURAS
STARRING: KATE WINSLET, ANDY SAMBERG, ALEXANDER SKARSGARD
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
In the new film Lee, Kate Winslet stars as Lee Miller who became an acclaimed war photographer and correspondent for Vogue during World War II. Her story is slowly revealed as she sits talking to a younger man (Josh O’Connor) years later in 1977. The film proceeds back and forth in time as it traces Lee’s early work as a photographer just before the war gets underway in 1938 and through 1945.
When we first see Winslet as Lee in ’77 it’s a bit startling. She’s been aged, of course, and looks like someone who has weathered quite a life. She drinks and smokes as she tells her story using a husky voice. Young Lee comes across as self-assured and free-wheeling as we see her having a topless outdoor lunch with her friends, including Solange D’Ayen, played by Marion Cotillard. She meets her future husband Roland (Alexander Skarsgard) and the narrative then moves quickly through the war years.
What’s interesting about Lee Miller is her determination to get to the frontline of the war. During the time, women were not allowed in press briefings or combat roles. Lee must worm her way into these areas, clearly demonstrating a spirited war-time feminist at work. As the film goes on, she witnesses many of the horrors of the war, including some of its after effects on the German border when she photographs some of her most significant subjects.
The film is based on a book and it feels as if chunks of that story have been truncated here. This is too bad because it ends up feeling more like a series of sequences featuring various times when Lee was taking photos and writing her reports. These sections of the film aren’t as compelling as they should be to really draw in some emotional support for Lee’s journey.
There are also a few perplexing casting choices. Cotillard is an Oscar-winning actress, so it’s unclear why she took such a small role in this film as Solange. She’s missing for a good chunk of the story and when we finally see her again there is a desperate situation around her that is given very little attention. Andy Samberg is also a curious choice to play David Scherman, a war correspondent who worked with Lee. It’s a decidedly dramatic yet underdeveloped part for the comedian. His Jewish heritage and its relationship to what has happened around them could have used more expansion beyond one emotional scene.
This is though Winslet’s film and she doesn’t disappoint in her performance. It has some of the brash and tough notes we’ve seen her play in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Revolutionary Road. Yet this is a more seasoned character and Winslet has certainly continued to develop and expand her skills in the intervening years since those films were made. Lee holds a lot inside and yet her photos show how much she endured to find the truth of what was happening during the war. Winslet nicely expresses the toll all of this takes on Lee as the war goes on.
There is a bit of a twist that arrives very late in the film that doesn’t really add much other than an “ah ha” moment. Why the details of the scene are withheld for as long as they are is another unclear script choice.
Ultimately though this is a film stressing the importance of capturing and expressing the truth. It’s a reminder that journalism has a hugely significant role to play in keeping our leaders and involvements with other countries in check.
Lee opens theatrically this week.
FILM: LEE
DIRECTED BY: ELLEN KURAS
STARRING: KATE WINSLET, ANDY SAMBERG, ALEXANDER SKARSGARD
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
In the new film Lee, Kate Winslet stars as Lee Miller who became an acclaimed war photographer and correspondent for Vogue during World War II. Her story is slowly revealed as she sits talking to a younger man (Josh O’Connor) years later in 1977. The film proceeds back and forth in time as it traces Lee’s early work as a photographer just before the war gets underway in 1938 and through 1945.
When we first see Winslet as Lee in ’77 it’s a bit startling. She’s been aged, of course, and looks like someone who has weathered quite a life. She drinks and smokes as she tells her story using a husky voice. Young Lee comes across as self-assured and free-wheeling as we see her having a topless outdoor lunch with her friends, including Solange D’Ayen, played by Marion Cotillard. She meets her future husband Roland (Alexander Skarsgard) and the narrative then moves quickly through the war years.
What’s interesting about Lee Miller is her determination to get to the frontline of the war. During the time, women were not allowed in press briefings or combat roles. Lee must worm her way into these areas, clearly demonstrating a spirited war-time feminist at work. As the film goes on, she witnesses many of the horrors of the war, including some of its after effects on the German border when she photographs some of her most significant subjects.
The film is based on a book and it feels as if chunks of that story have been truncated here. This is too bad because it ends up feeling more like a series of sequences featuring various times when Lee was taking photos and writing her reports. These sections of the film aren’t as compelling as they should be to really draw in some emotional support for Lee’s journey.
There are also a few perplexing casting choices. Cotillard is an Oscar-winning actress, so it’s unclear why she took such a small role in this film as Solange. She’s missing for a good chunk of the story and when we finally see her again there is a desperate situation around her that is given very little attention. Andy Samberg is also a curious choice to play David Scherman, a war correspondent who worked with Lee. It’s a decidedly dramatic yet underdeveloped part for the comedian. His Jewish heritage and its relationship to what has happened around them could have used more expansion beyond one emotional scene.
This is though Winslet’s film and she doesn’t disappoint in her performance. It has some of the brash and tough notes we’ve seen her play in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Revolutionary Road. Yet this is a more seasoned character and Winslet has certainly continued to develop and expand her skills in the intervening years since those films were made. Lee holds a lot inside and yet her photos show how much she endured to find the truth of what was happening during the war. Winslet nicely expresses the toll all of this takes on Lee as the war goes on.
There is a bit of a twist that arrives very late in the film that doesn’t really add much other than an “ah ha” moment. Why the details of the scene are withheld for as long as they are is another unclear script choice.
Ultimately though this is a film stressing the importance of capturing and expressing the truth. It’s a reminder that journalism has a hugely significant role to play in keeping our leaders and involvements with other countries in check.
Lee opens theatrically this week.