MOVIE OF THE WEEK September 27, 2024: LEE
From the dark teenage drama of Heavenly Creatures to the gritty urban gloom of Mare of Easttown, Kate Winslet is no stranger to playing strong, complicated women. She continues that streak here, clearly relishing the opportunity to tell the fascinating story of famed model/photographer/war correspondent Lee Miller in Ellen Kuras’ engrossing biopic Lee. As it follows Miller through the battlefields of World War II, the film makes it clear exactly why Miller and Winslet deserve to be known as legends.
The screenplay is structured as a series of long flashbacks from the 1970s, as an older Miller tells her life story to a younger man. Viewers are first transported to 1938, when, barely into her 30s, Miller has already lived a notable life–inspiring an iconic Vogue cover image, traveling the world, modeling for (and living with) photographer Man Ray. She’s sophisticated and worldly, as comfortable doffing her top for sunny backyard gatherings with her French friends as she is pursuing a tryst with passionate English artist Roland Penrose (Alexander Skarsgård). Her camera is always at the ready, and so is a cocktail. But war in Europe is looming.
Never one to shy away from a challenge, Miller is determined to do something that matters during World War II. She convinces Vogue editor Audrey Withers (Andrea Riseborough) to give her a job, and she sets about capturing the impact of the war on film, photographing the Blitz in London and eventually making her way to the front alongside renowned Life photographer David E. Scherman (Andy Samberg). The two form a very close friendship as they encounter—and carefully document—the horrifying consequences of the Nazi regime, including taking some of the first photographs of concentration camp victims. It takes a terrible toll, but they know it’s essential to record the truth of what they’ve seen.
Winslet, who has long been intrigued by Miller, also produced the film, working closely with Miller’s son, Antony Penrose, to get at the truth of who Miller was and develop a story that would honor her without romanticizing her. That work, combined with first-time feature director Kuras’ strong instincts (undoubtedly honed over her award-winning career in cinematography) and the haunting World War II sets, results in a clear-eyed portrait of a woman who knew that her true calling was behind the lens, seeing the reality other people might miss, rather than smiling in front of it. — Betsy Bozdech
Team #MOTW’s comments:
Loren King For those who don’t know much about the fascinating life of Lee Miller, Lee will immediately send you in search for books, documentaries and archives. That alone is a strong endorsement for any biopic. Anchored by a gritty performance by Kate Winslet as the model turned photographer whose work as a war correspondent during World War II yielded some of the first and still chilling images from the Nazi death camps, Lee depicts a life too big for a single film. Still, director Ellen Kuras and Winslet capture Miller’s artistic curiosity and core defiance that made her a woman far ahead of her time. Read full review.
Pam Grady: Fifteen years ago, veteran cinematographer Ellen Kuras broke into directing with a documentary, The Betrayal, for which she received Oscar and Film Independent Spirit Award nominations for best documentary. She makes just as an assured narrative feature debut with this biopic of acclaimed photographer Lee Miller. Adapted from Antony Penrose’s biography of his mother, the story focuses on just a narrow sliver of this exceptional woman’s life. Kate Winslet stars as the former fashion model turned shutterbug and surrealist captured first in 1938 when she meets her future husband, artist Roland Penrose (Alexander Skarsgård), and all the talk around the lunch table are assurances that the German despot Adolf Hitler won’t get far. When World War II breaks out, Roland declares himself a conscientious objector; it’s Lee that wants to go to the front. And so she does, equipped with only a camera as she provides a glimpse into the horrors of both battle and Holocaust for the readers of Vogue. Winslet receives strong support from Skarsgård; Andy Samberg as Life photographer David Scherman; Andrea Riseborough as Vogue editor Audrey Withers, and, in flash forward scenes, Josh O’ Connor as Antony but this is a film that lives or dies on its central performance. Winslet answers the challenge with a precise performance that emphasizes Lee’s strong-willed, steely surface while revealing the deep well of empathy underneath that are at the heart of her evocative pictures.
Leslie Combemale “There’s so much life in a person’s eyes, right up until the moment that there isn’t”, says Lee Miller in Ellen Kuras’s new bio-pic Lee. A historic war photographer and iconoclastic personality, Miller captured both sides of that truth with her camera, and her work is a lasting testament to her fearlessness and artistry. She captured some of the most indelible images from the decade that spanned before, during, and after World War II, including uniquely expressing the challenges for women in the war, as well as the tragedy and horror of the holocaust.
Award-winning cinematographer Kuras makes her narrative directorial debut with Lee, which tells the story of the decade roughly between 1935 and 1945 from Lee Miller’s perspective. Read full review.
Nell Minow: Lee Miller wanted the world to see the unbearably painful stories of WWII and yet she did not want to share her own, even with those closest to her. The filmmakers’ passion for telling her story is clear in every frame of this film, with Kate Winslet giving another performance of endless courage and vulnerability.
Sherin Nicole As the narrative feature debut from director Ellen Kuras, Lee carries the weight of documentaries. A bio-drama about photographer and war correspondent Elizabeth “Lee” Miller, the film reenacts Miller’s journey from fashion model to fearless World War II correspondent. Kate Winslet is luminous in the leading role, showcasing Miller’s courage, vulnerability, and pursuit of truth. Filmed with an eye for the suffering and photographic journalism at its core; framed by an interview with a young journalist (Josh O’Connor), the film outpaces a few conventional biopic cues to deliver a tribute and a reminder never to look away.
Jennifer Merin Lee is acclaimed cinematographer Ellen Kura’s first feature film, a stirring docudrama about the intrepid Lee Miller, who transformed her career as a New York fashion model to Paris-based fashion photographer and, then, when World War II broke out, became a dedicated war correspondent for Vogue Magazine, using her skills and courage to chronicle the horrors of war for American readers. Kate Winslet is stunning as Lee. The film is a beautifully crafted tribute to a great artist and heroic woman whose complicated life story makes for an inspiring film.
Sandie Angulo Chen: In Lee, Kate Winslet gives a stirring, award-worthy performance in this biographical drama about Lee Miller, an American model-turned-war photographer who covered WWII for British Vogue. With her bohemian lifestyle and artistic friends and lover, Lee at first seems like a hedonist with a hobby, but she is so much more. During the war, she crosses into Occupied Europe with Life photographer and friend Dave Scherman (Andy Samberg, in a nuanced supporting role). Winslet inhabits this fiercely independent, intelligent, and bold photographer with a masterful touch. A must-see biopic of a woman who made history by photographing it.
Nikki Fowler: Kate Winslet is fascinating in Ellen Kuras’s beautifully directed Lee and transforms into the impeccably portrayed semi biopic character in women’s history, photojournalist Lee Miller, fashion model turned WWII photographer. Winslet’s makeup transformation is incredible as the story flashes from the story’s present time which leaves the Oscar winning actress unrecognizable, to her character’s past, chronicling the morbid abuses of women in the midst of the perils of war. The cinematography and sound are exquisite within this inspiring but sobering new film.
Liz Whittemore Ellen Kuras brings us the incredible true story of Elizabeth “Lee” Miller, the fashion model turned war correspondent for Vogue during WWII. The screenplay’s structure finds her in an interview with journalist Antony Penrose, regaling him with life stories. Illustrated through flashbacks, Lee introduces the world to a fiercely feminist icon, one who broke misogynistic rules and that now can be a household name. Gorgeous lighting and period production are lush. The sound editing is appropriately jarring and immersive. Backed up by compelling performances from Jude Law, Andrea Riseborough, Alexander Skarsgård, and Andy Samberg, Kate Winslet’s chameleon abilities shine in this role. She commands each frame with her take no shit fearlessness. Lee’s staunch personality almost feels at odds with her insurmountable creativity, but Winslet makes it feel effortless. She is simply superb.
Cate Marquis Gripping and moving, Lee is a historical biopic that tells an astonishing tale of a bold woman who remade herself from a fashion model into a WWII war photographer, and who took some of the earliest, most important images of concentration camps after the Holocaust. Kate Winslet gives a breathtaking performance as both the older Lee Miller and the younger one in pre-war Paris, wartime London and France, and post-war Germany. The older Lee, chain-smoking and downing scotch, recounts her career to a young interviewer (Josh O’Connor), until we flashback to pre-WWII Paris. Young Lee Miller (Winslet again) is a partying ex-pat American, a beautiful model who runs with a bohemian artsy crowd that includes Pablo Picasso and photographer Man Ray, but she hopes to pursue her passion for photography. As war looms, she moves to London with new lover Roland (Alexander Skarsgard), where she gets that chance to switch careers, thanks to British Vogue editor (Andrea Riseborough), who also happens to employ Cecil Beaton, the royal family’s favorite photog. Packed with stars that also include Marion Cotillard and Andy Samberg, Lee tells the too-little known story of this fearless, feminist, one-of-a-kind woman who broke barriers for women war correspondents.
FILM DETAILS:
Title: Lee
Director: Ellen Kuras
Release Date: September 17, 2024
Running Time: 116 minutes
Language: English
Screenwriters: Liz Hannah, Marion Hume, John Collee
Lead Performers: Kate Winslet, Andrea Riseborough, Alexander Skarsgård, Marion Cotillard, Josh O’Connor
Distribution Company: Roadside Attractions
AWFJ Movie of the Week Panel Members: Sandie Angulo Chen, Betsy Bozdech, Leslie Combemale, Nikki Fowler, Pam Grady, Loren King, Cate Marquis, Jennifer Merin, Nell Minow, Sherin Nicole, Liz Whittemore
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Edited by Jennifer Merin
