Film Review: LEE (2023): Ellen Kuras’ Earnest Dramatic Film Showcases Fine Work From its Star Kate Winslet
Lee Review
Lee (2023) Film Review, a movie directed by Ellen Kuras, written by Liz Hannah, Marion Hume and John Collee and starring Kate Winslet, Alexander SkarsgĂ„rd, Andy Samberg, Marion Cotillard, Andrea Riseborough, Noemie Merlant, Josh O’Connor, James Murray, Arinze Kene, Vincent Colombe, Patrick Mille, Camilla Aiko, Samuel Barnett, Zita Hanrot, Sean Duggan, Enrique Arce, Marinko Prga and Orlando Seale.
In Lee, filmmaker Ellen Kuras brings to life the story of Lee Miller (Kate Winslet), a renowned American photographer whose work during World War II did not initially make the final edit of the pages of a British Vogue magazine that was published around the time period the movie portrays. In so many words, Lee is told in the film by a key character that people don’t need the reminder of the horrors of war. That was a huge misconception that, luckily, didn’t decide the fate of Lee’s photos although Lee starts destroying them at a pivotal moment in the picture before she is stopped. Kuras’ film traces Lee’s life as she transforms during the movie from young and hopeful to older and more knowledgeable and sorrowful. Lee appears as an older woman in the framing device of the movie where she tells a journalist (Josh O’Connor) about her past. For most of the film, we don’t know who the journalist is and what his relation to Lee is.
Lee had a tragedy that occurred in her past which surfaces late in the picture but the director of the film doesn’t lead the viewer on as to expect that is the only reason why Lee had become so persistent and ambitious. Instead the film makes the character of Lee increasingly more self-aware as she begins working to capture the horrors of World War II for those who were or were not there to witness it first-hand. Lee’s past complements her disgust with elements of the war.
The supporting cast of the film is astonishingly good. Andy Samberg plays Davy Scherman in a performance that is a true stand-out here. Scherman was Lee’s colleague over at LIFE magazine. Davy and Lee take some enormous risks throughout the movie that resulted in some of the most vivid and powerful photographs which were taken around World War II. Also well-cast is Alexander SkarsgĂ„rd as Lee’s significant other, Roland Penrose, who gave Lee the idea to embrace her status as an American in order to gain entry to the site of where the action was happening. In one scene, Lee hides her long hair and puts on a helmet as she pretends not to comprehend the fact that female press were not allowed to be present for news updates.
Also noteworthy is the presence of the always superb Andrea Riseborough as Lee’s editor, Audrey Withers. Riseborough’s character walks a delicate line as she tries to support Lee which is easier said than done during the time period the movie embraces. Early on in the picture before the height of the war, Lee takes her photographs to British Vogue in the hopes of being hired but is turned away with the suggestion of the possibility of future employment. Audrey sort of had faith in Lee although circumstances got in the way of Lee getting Audrey’s full support at all times.
Winslet is the core of the reason why Lee works so well. Winslet appears on-screen topless once again in the early scenes of Lee but there’s a significant purpose for the nude scenes which help shape and develop the character Winslet plays. She starts as a model and becomes more mature as a different type of career-driven woman out to make an important difference in the world as the movie progresses. Winslet’s scenes are more thoughtful as a younger woman than as a much older one, however. Watching the old Lee chain-smoke and go through the motions seems, at times, like an unnecessary framing device here though it is necessary given the reveal of who the journalist she is speaking to is.
But, the power of the scenes between Samberg and Winslet is certainly undeniable as is the charisma Winslet has throughout the entire film in the performance of her role. Marion Cotillard’s role as a friend of Lee’s seems to have sadly ended up mostly on the cutting room floor, though. SkarsgĂ„rd, not unsurprisingly, more than holds his own throughout the picture with his character playing off Winset’s Lee’s passions extremely well.
There is a scene where one iconic photograph, in particular, is created which doesn’t need to be talked about in detail here since it is one of the most intriguing aspects of Lee. It’s hard to give away certain sequences which are nothing short of riveting in the film’s second half as not to ruin their power when they are actually witnessed on-screen. But, the overall impact of the photographs displayed here and the relentless persistence that Lee demonstrated to make the truth known to the world make the character commendable and respectable. The movie informs us that Lee’s fierce personality paid off for the photographer and that she triumphed against the odds in the most noble way that she could throughout her life and after it.
Lee is a moving film. It comes in a year that is full of fine films featuring World War II stories. Blitz and White Bird would make two films that could work with Lee on a triple bill this year for history seekers or just people who want to see really good movie about the war, whether true or fictional. Given the potency of Winslet’s performance in Lee, it wouldn’t be surprising if the actress receives a Golden Globe nod for her seamless work in this intense and dramatically strong, focused picture.
Rating: 7/10
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