Kate Winslet takes centre frame in this biopic of model turned war photographer Lee Miller, whose snapshots of the frontline – and namely the discovery of concentration camps – have become some of the defining accounts of the experience and atrocities of the Second World War. Read our Lee movie review below.
It’s a remarkable life, is that of Lee Miller. A free-spirited New Yorker who quickly found her calling, becoming a renowned model on the NYC culture scene by the time she was 18, and eventually embarking on a life that saw her rub shoulders with emerging artists of the 20th century across Europe as she studied and perfected her artform: photography. It’s an impressive and fascinating life before one even gets to her considerable contributions as a war correspondent during World War Two working for Vogue magazine.
That fact is not lost on star-producer Kate Winslet, who has been trying to get Lee’s story to the big screen for most of the last decade, almost literally breaking her back to get it over the line after injuring herself early in production. Her dedication is very clear and evident in the final piece, as her performance deftly balances Lee’s strong will and empathetic worldview. It’s a fully formed performance, which while unsurprising considering Winslet’s immense talents, is comfortably the strongest aspect of this otherwise disappointingly by-the-numbers biopic.
Related: Watch the teaser trailer for ‘Lee’ with Kate Winslet
The supporting cast is largely strong, even if there are a lot of recognisable names in roles that are often fleeting. The best among the supporting players is Andy Samberg, who more than steps up to the plate when called upon to do more dramatic fare than he is used to. Playing Life magazine photographer David Scherman, Samberg pairs well with Winslet, with the two forming a partnership that feels effortless and supportive. There’s a strong bond and trust at the heart of Lee and David’s relationship, and crucially the two stars convey that convincingly between each other on screen.
The rest of the cast, which features the likes of Josh O’Connor, Marion Cotillard, Andrea Riseborough and Alexander Skarsgard are a mixed bag, both as a result of under-written roles and slight miscasting. The script itself is often a disjointed affair, very much adopting a ‘and then’ approach to its narrative, all within a framing device which goes for a ‘twist’ reveal at the end that feels a bit cheap and misjudged.
The film is effective in a couple of key scenes, namely in Lee and David at the site of a concentration camp and when they find themselves in Hitler’s apartment. The weight of the discoveries made is bleakly and honestly portrayed, while the bizarre atmosphere of stepping into Hitler’s apartment is well-constructed, leaving an eerie sense of the uncanny.
Ellen Kuras – making her directorial debut after working as a cinematographer on documentaries and the likes of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,- keeps things visually quite clean and stark, which works in some of the film’s bleaker moments. But you can’t help but crave a little more visual flair, particularly when considering the subject matter of a photographer and figure of the fashion world.
Lee certainly has elements to admire, namely its central performance, as well as its deduction to telling Lee Miller’s story and bringing it to the mainstream. She’s a pioneering figure and deserves to be remembered as such. But the film itself often feels like it’s in a bit of a dramatic cul-de-sac, rarely crafting a sense of momentum or leaving behind much of an impression on a visual level. It has moments of sobering power, but they often too prove too few and fleeting thanks to a screenplay which struggles to know quite how to do its subject justice.
Lee
The film portrays a pivotal decade in the life of American war correspondent and photographer, Lee Miller (Kate Winslet). Miller’s singular talent and unbridled tenacity resulted in some of the 20th century’s most indelible images of war, including an iconic photo of Miller herself, posing defiantly in Hitler’s private bathtub.
Miller had a profound understanding and empathy for women and the voiceless victims of war. Her images display both the fragility and ferocity of the human experience. Above all, the film shows how Miller lived her life at full-throttle in pursuit of truth, for which she paid a huge personal price, forcing her to confront a traumatic and deeply buried secret from her childhood.
Summary
Winslet is excellent in this otherwise disappointingly by-the-numbers biopic
Lee is released in cinemas on Friday 13th September.
