Anthony Hopkins' latest film One Life about Sir Nicholas Winton has received backlash due to the missing references to Jews. To amend this, its marketing materials have now been edited to include Jewish references, Variety reported.
One Life follows Nicholas Winton (Hopkins), also known as the British Oscar Schindler. Winton was able to help save over 600 children's lives, most of them Jewish, from the Nazis during the second World War.
One Life: Sir Nicholas Winton and the 600+ children he saved
However, controversy erupted regarding the movie's promo materials when some claimed that Jews had been removed from the synopsis.
It all started when British media retailer HMV posted on X about the movie and referred to the saved children only as Central European instead of calling them Jewish. Some independent theaters also described the children as only Central European, without referring to them as Jewish.
One Life's producer See-Saw Films and UK distributor Warner Bros. Pictures, were also criticized for excluding the word “Jewish” from the promo materials describing the children, however they also did not use the phrase “Central European.”
While Warner Bros. UK did not comment when the entertainment reached out, the distributor is said to be changing the wording of the marketing materials to now describe the children as “predominantly Jewish.” This reflects the factual record that even though most of the over 600 Czechoslovakian children were Jewish, a few of them were actually not of that faith, but were political refugees.
A source close to someone in the film stressed that the use of the phrase “Central European” was not done by either the filmmakers or the distributors. Instead, it most likely came from an unauthorized third party who used that phrase on IMDB. HMV then picked up the phrase, and so did some independent theaters. HMV has since deleted the post.
The source said, “The filmmakers were sensitive to the fact that one hundred of the children were not Jewish, they were political refugees, and made a decision that it was important to be inclusive.” They also insisted that the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel which killed 1,400 did not have anything to do with the movie's promo materials.
The conflict in Israel and Palestine as well as anti-semitic attacks have been in the headlines not just recently, but for the past few months. Even celebrities like Kanye West and Elon Musk have been involved in the fray: one apologizing and the other… not.
In August 2023, a BFI press release announced One Life's gala screening during the London Film Festival without using the phrases “Central European” or “Jewish.”
Instead, the press release read, “One Life tells the true story of Sir Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Winton, a young London broker played by Hopkins, who, in the months leading up to World War II, rescued 669 children from the Nazis.”
The source added, “There was no desire to take away an association with the Jewish community. There was never any intent to cause offence [by the filmmakers]. They’re very proud of the film.”
IMDB has received the request to change the synopsis. Warner Bros.' UK website as well as Vue's, a large cinema chain in the UK, have also changed the synopsis to say “predominantly Jewish.”
Nicholas Winton and That's Life video
Winton's saving of the more than 600 predominantly Jewish children was not known until he appeared on the British talk show That's Life in 1988. Videos of this particular scene have made the rounds on social media for several years now.
Host Esther Rantzen first pointed out one of the names of the children in Winton's list, Vera. She then announced that Vera was actually in the audience and that she was sitting next to Winton himself.
She then asked the audience if any of them were there due to Winton. A majority of the audience stood up. Rantzen had arranged for the children and their children to attend the show to surprise him. The scene plays a prominent role in One Life.
Follow Us
Subscribe