Ex-model-turned WWII photographer doesn’t have a gun, but her shots are dead on
By Sarah T. Schwab
What makes a person good or evil? According to Dante’s “Inferno,” there are nine circles of hell that describe wrongdoings and said consequences. In the historical action drama “Lee,” things aren’t so black and white.
Based on the book “The Lives of Lee Miller” by Antony Penrose, Lee (Kate Winslet) is an American ex-model turned celebrated World War II photographer being interviewed by a young man, presumably a journalist. Her photos are strewn about a small apartment as an older version of herself chain-smokes, drinks vodka, and discusses her life.
Cutting between present and past, the film begins in Mougins, France 1938 as Lee enjoys topless lunches, wine and cigarettes with friends Solange D’Ayen (Marion Cotillard) and Nusch Eluard (Noémie Merland). It’s on this holiday that she meets British painter Roland Penrose (Alexander Skarsgård) whom she falls in love with. Rather than joining her friends in Paris, she moves to London with Roland.
Quickly bored by domestic life, she impels her way into British Vogue with her powerful photographs both in front of and behind the camera. She “sees the soul,” Solange says. This is her gift. It also becomes the albatross around her neck, especially when London is blitzed by Germany. “It happened so slowly,” Lee tells the interviewer. “Kind of overnight. We woke up one morning and Hitler was the most powerful man in Europe.”
Bombs rain down on London. She is cut off from her friends in Paris. Men are sent to fight while women are left behind to care for children. Lee sees this as an “adventure” and wanders the streets capturing images that are published in the magazine. This isn’t enough for her though. She tells editor Audrey Withers (Andrea Riseborough) that she wants to photograph the war in Europe.
Because she’s a woman, her hands are tied by the “traditions” of the British government. But given her American citizenship, her mission is granted. She meets fellow photographer Davy Scherman (Andy Samberg) who works at “Life Magazine” in New York. The two become fast friends, navigating the circles of hell in France together. They drive for months rarely bathing and capturing the raw truths that no one wants to see.
Her sex is brought into question frequently, giving her limited access to the warzone. So she finds stories where she can, usually where the women and weak are kept.
On one military base she sees a door that reads, “No Men Allowed.” Entering, she sees freshly laundered undergarments and female military uniforms hanging in the window to dry. Snap! She is also allowed into the hospital where hundreds of procedures are done daily with faulty electricity and limited tools. Snap!
Given a brief moment of action where bullets and bombs wiz by her, she is escorted underground where French women and children are, fear filling their eyes due to the actions of German and American soldiers. She sees the shaved heads of “traitorous” women who slept with Germans, even if it was against their will. Snap!
After Paris is liberated, Lee and Davy make it to the German border in 1945. It’s here where they see the most horrific aftereffects of WWII. “Even when I wanted to look away, I knew I couldn’t,” Lee tells the interviewer. “There are different kinds of wounds. Not just the ones you can see.”
This is not Winslet’s first brush with a WWII narrative. She starred in “The Reader” (2008) opposite Ralph Fiennes where she defends herself in the Nuremberg trials after being associated with the Nazis. In “Lee,” she plays the opposite side of the coin. Both roles capture humanity with authenticity – the lines of good and evil are blurred on all fronts. Lee’s determination to capture the truth is laudable. Knowing that truth haunts her for the rest of her days.
“Lee” has a runtime of 1hr 54 mn. It will be playing at Dipson Amherst, Dipson Capitol, Regal Elmwood, Regal Quaker, Regal Transit, Regal Walden Galleria.
